Gulshan Kumar, the founder of T-Series, was gunned down on August 12, 1997, outside a temple in Andheri, Mumbai.
The former music mogul, who was shot with 16 bullets by three assailants, had died on the spot.
Now, according to media reports, the Bombay High Court has apparently upheld the conviction of Abdul Rauf Merchant in the murder case of Gulshan Kumar on Thursday. Abdul Rauf, an aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002 for Gulshan Kumar’s murder in 1997. Reportedly, the court has also sent his brother Abdul Rashid to jail for life.
Reportedly, the division bench of justice Sadhana S Jadhav and Justice N R Borkar upheld Rauf’s conviction and sentence under sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). It, however, acquitted him under sections 392 (punishment for robbery) and 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.
On the other hand, Bombay HC dismissed the plea of the state challenging the acquittal of Ramesh Taurani of Tips Industries. He was acquitted on the charges of abetment to murder.
Ramesh was arrested on the charges of abetting the crime- alleging that he paid Rs 25 lakh to Gulshan Kumar’s killers. The police, however, failed to establish the accusation in court. It was said that Tips was one of the primary rivals of T-Series during that time.