Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter: Plea in SC challenges acquittal of 22 accused

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order acquitting 22 accused including 21 policemen in the alleged 2005 fake encounter case involving Gujarat gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife and aide Tulsiram Prajapati.

The petition has been filed by Nayabuddin Shaikh, younger brother of deceased Sohrabuddin Shaikh, challenging the May 7 order of the high court which, while acquitting the accused, said that the prosecution had failed to establish the case.

On May 7, the high court observed it finds no ground to interfere with the trial court judgment acquitting the accused and added that the prosecution case is based on circumstantial evidence and there are several broken links in the chain of circumstances.

It had dismissed the appeals filed by Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin, challenging the December 2018 judgment of a special CBI court in Mumbai acquitting all the accused in the case.

Among the 22 accused acquitted, 21 were junior-level officers from .