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Brother moves Supreme Court against Bombay High Court order acquitting 22
Nayabuddin Sheikh, brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, has filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court's decision upholding the acquittal of all 22 accused in the 2005 encounter case, including 21 police officers. The High Court had dismissed appeals against the acquittals in May, citing insufficient evidence.
Nayabuddin Sheikh, the brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court's decision to uphold the acquittal of all 22 accused in the 2005 encounter case, including 21 police officers from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh.
The plea, filed on August 13, challenges the High Court's May 7 judgment dismissing appeals against the acquittals. The case concerns the alleged killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kausar Bi, and his associate Tulsiram Prajapati.
According to the prosecution, Sheikh and the others were taken into custody by a police team while travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Maharashtra on the night of November 22-23, 2005. Sheikh was subsequently killed in an alleged encounter near Ahmedabad on November 26, while Kausar Bi was allegedly killed three days later. Prajapati, considered a key eyewitness, was killed in a separate alleged encounter on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006.
Among the 22 accused acquitted, 21 were junior-level officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan police, who were part of the teams that allegedly abducted the three and later killed them in staged encounters. The remaining one accused was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat, where Sheikh and his wife were allegedly illegally detained before they were killed.
The Supreme Court had earlier transferred the investigation from the Gujarat CID to the CBI and shifted the trial from Gujarat to Mumbai. In 2013, the Supreme Court had clubbed the alleged fake encounter case of Prajapati with that of Sheikh.
In December 2018, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court acquitted all persons accused in the matter, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove a conspiracy beyond reasonable doubt. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah, who is now the Union home minister, was among those acquitted earlier in the case.
Out of 210 witnesses examined during the trial, 92 were declared hostile. In April 2019, Nayabuddin Sheikh and another brother, Rubabuddin Sheikh, challenged the acquittal before the High Court, alleging that the trial was flawed and that several witness statements had not been recorded accurately.
While upholding the acquittals, the High Court said the prosecution's case was based on circumstantial evidence with "several broken links in the chain of circumstances." The High Court found that the prosecution had failed to show that Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Kausar Bi were abducted by the police or establish a motive for staging an allegedly fake encounter. It also said that the large number of hostile witnesses did not by itself show that the trial had not been properly conducted, and found no evidence of a politician-police nexus behind the alleged encounters.
The High Court dismissed the appeals filed by Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin against the December 2018 judgment of a special CBI court in Mumbai acquitting all the accused.
How each outlet told it
ANI (Asian News International)
Framing: Headline emphasizes the Supreme Court challenge by the brother, specifically the acquittal of 21 policemen. It leaves out the number 22 (the total accused), the involvement of a farmhouse owner, and the broader allegations of staged encounters and murders. — Descriptive and factual, using 'alleged' frequently. Tone is neutral and focused on legal proceedings, without emotional language.
Facts Included:
Nayabuddin Shaikh, younger brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, approached Supreme Court challenging Bombay HC decision upholding acquittal of 22 accused, including 21 policemen from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh
Nayabuddin challenged the HC order of May 7 that dismissed appeals against acquittal
HC said prosecution failed to establish case, found no ground to interfere with trial court judgement
HC said prosecution case based on circumstantial evidence with 'several broken links in the chain'
HC dismissed appeals filed by Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin against December 2018 judgement of special CBI court in Mumbai acquitting all accused
Case concerns alleged killings of Sohrabuddin, his wife Kausar Bi, and associate Tulsiram Prajapati
According to prosecution, Sheikh and others were taken into custody by police while travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Maharashtra on night of November 22-23, 2005
Sheikh killed in alleged encounter near Ahmedabad on November 26, Kausar Bi allegedly killed three days later, Prajapati killed in separate alleged encounter on Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006
Among 22 accused acquitted, 21 were junior-level officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan police, part of teams that allegedly abducted the three and later killed them in staged encounters
The remaining accused was owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat where Sheikh and his wife were allegedly illegally detained before being killed
Supreme Court had earlier transferred investigation from Gujarat CID to CBI and shifted trial from Gujarat to Mumbai
December 2018: Special CBI Court in Mumbai acquitted all, holding prosecution failed to establish credible conspiracy
Acquittal challenged before Bombay High Court in 2019
In 2013, apex court had clubbed alleged fake encounter case of Prajapati with that of Sheikh
92 prosecution witnesses out of 210 turned against prosecution
Framing: Headline emphasizes the Supreme Court move by the brother, specifically mentioning the Bombay HC order that acquitted 22. It highlights the action and the number of acquitted, but does not mention the political figure (Amit Shah) or the allegations of rape and staged encounters. — Descriptive with a legal focus, using terms like 'alleged' and 'staged' to convey skepticism. Tone is measured, reporting on court actions and allegations without explicit alarm.
Facts Included:
Nayabuddin Sheikh, brother of Sohrabuddin, moved the Supreme Court against Bombay HC order upholding acquittal of 22 accused, including 21 police officers, in 2005 encounter case
Plea filed on August 13, challenges HC's May 7 judgement dismissing appeals against acquittals
Sohrabuddin was a wanted criminal, killed by Gujarat Police in November 2005 in alleged staged encounter
He and wife were travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Sangli when stopped by Gujarat and Rajasthan police, allegedly abducted and shot dead near Gandhinagar
A sub-inspector allegedly raped Kauser Bi before murdering her (note: source spells 'Kauser Bi')
Prajapati was sole witness, shot dead in another encounter in December 2006 while in police custody
December 2018: special CBI court acquitted all, held prosecution failed to prove conspiracy beyond reasonable doubt
Amit Shah, now Union home minister, was among those acquitted earlier in the case
Out of 210 witnesses, 92 declared hostile
April 2019: Nayabuddin and brother Rubabuddin challenged acquittal before HC, alleging flawed trial and witness statements not accurately recorded
HC said prosecution's case based on circumstantial evidence with 'several broken links in the chain of circumstances'
HC found prosecution failed to show abduction by police or establish motive for staged encounter
HC said large number of hostile witnesses did not by itself show trial was not properly conducted
HC found no evidence of politician-police nexus behind alleged encounters
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimNayabuddin Sheikh moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court's decision upholding the acquittal of 22 accused, including 21 police officers, in the 2005 encounter case.
ClaimSohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra when they were stopped by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police, allegedly abducted and shot dead near Gandhinagar.
ClaimIn December 2018, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court acquitted all accused in the matter, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove a conspiracy beyond reasonable doubt.
ClaimIn April 2019, Nayabuddin Sheikh and Rubabuddin Sheikh challenged the acquittal before the High Court, alleging that the trial was flawed and that several witness statements had not been recorded accurately.
ClaimThe High Court found that the prosecution had failed to show that Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Kausar Bi were abducted by the police or establish a motive for staging an allegedly fake encounter.
ClaimThe High Court dismissed the appeals filed by Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin against the December 2018 judgment of a special CBI court in Mumbai acquitting all the accused.
ClaimAccording to the prosecution, Sheikh and the others were taken into custody by a police team while travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Maharashtra on the night of November 22-23, 2005.
ClaimAmong the 22 accused acquitted, 21 were junior-level officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan police, who were part of the teams that allegedly abducted the three and later killed them in staged encounters.
ClaimThe remaining one accused was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat, where Sheikh and his wife were allegedly illegally detained before being killed.