8 April 2024 11:33 AM GMT
The Supreme Court on Monday (April 8) admitted the appeal filed by former Mumbai Police encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma challenging the recent Bombay High Court's order sentencing him to life imprisonment in a fake encounter killing case. The Court also issued notice to the State of Maharashtra on his plea.
Apart from this, the Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra granted interim relief to Sharma by exempting him from surrender until the next date of hearing. The High Court, as per its judgment dated March 19, had directed him to surrender in three weeks. The killing is of the year 2006 and pertains to one Lakhan Bhaiya, an alleged former aide gangster Chhota Rajan.
While reversing the Trial Court's judgment of acquittal, the High Court Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse said all circumstances were “overlooked” by the trial judge. Further, the court also termed the finding of acquittal as “perverse” and “unsustainable” because it ignored and excluded relevant material. “The circumstances point towards the guilt of Pradeep Sharma,” the court said.
Brief Factual Background
Vashi resident Lakhan Bhaiya (33), whose real name was Ramnarayan Gupta, allegedly a former gangster, was abducted and killed in a staged police shooting in Versova on November 11, 2006. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) alleged the encounter was led by former senior inspector Pradeep Sharma, who conspired with Lakhan Bhaiya's disgruntled business partner to bump him off.
However, in July 2013, prime accused Pradeep Sharma was acquitted, while three other policemen -- Inspectors Pradeep Suryawanshi, Dilip Palande, and constable Tanaji Desai -- were convicted of murder. The remaining 18 accused were convicted of abetting the encounter.
One hundred and ten prosecution witnesses and two defence witnesses were examined in the case.
The trial court disbelieved the ballistic report that showed the bullet recovered from Lakhan Bhaiyya's head was fired from Sharma's gun. During the trial, the prosecution also suffered a big blow after the sole eyewitness, Anil Bheda - the man who was abducted along with the victim, disappeared days before he was to depose in court in 2011. His decomposed body was found two months later.
Lakhan Bhaiya's brother Ramprasad Gupta filed the appeal against Sharma's acquittal and appeals seeking the death penalty for 12 police officers who were part of the encounter team.
However, the High Court, while sentencing Sharma to life imprisonment, also upheld the life sentence of 13 convicts and acquitted six civilians.
The court also lamented the “gruesome” death of sole eye witness Anil Bheda days before his deposition in 2011, calling it a “shame” and a “travesty of justice” that the prime witness lost his life, but no one is booked to date. It hoped that Bheda's perpetrators would be prosecuted.
Sharma is a 1983 batch Maharashtra police officer who is alleged to have killed 112 gangsters in 25 years of police service. He was first dismissed in 2008 under a rarely invoked Act of the Constitution for his links with the underworld and allegations that he had amassed over Rs 3,000 crore. While he was cleared of these allegations in 2009 and reinstated as an inspector, he was arrested in January 2010 in connection with the Lakhan Bhaiya killing and dismissed again. After his acquittal in 2013, Sharma was re-arrested in the Antilia Bomb Scare and Mansukh Hiran Murder Case in 2021. However, last year, the Supreme Court granted Sharma bail.
Counsels for the petitioner (Sharma): Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth Luthra
Counsel for the State: Senior Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry.
Case Details: Pradeep Rameshwar Sharma vs State of Maharashtra., Diary No. 13604-2024
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