On August 12, 1997, Gulshan Kumar, commonly known as the “Cassette King,” was shot dead as he exited a temple in Mumbai. Three gunmen fired 16 bullets at him as he exited a temple in Juhu’s Jeet Nagar. Gulshan Kumar was pronounced dead on the spot.
In a 400-page charge sheet, the Mumbai police named 26 persons, including music composer Nadeem Akhtar Saifee. Co-conspirators were identified as Saifee and Ramesh Taurani, the owner of Tips Tapes..
For the murder of Gulshan Kumar, Abdul Rauf Merchant, a criminal Dawood Ibrahim’s sidekick, was sentenced to life in prison. The Bombay High Court affirmed Rauf Merchant’s conviction in the murder of T-series creator Gulshan Kumar on Thursday. In 2002, Rauf Merchant, a mobster Dawood Ibrahim’s aide, was sentenced to life in jail for the 1997 murder of the music entrepreneur. In today’s session, the high court affirmed the acquittal of Gulshan Kumar’s business competitor, Ramesh Taurani.
Given Rauf Merchant’s criminal history, the bench of Justice Sadhana S Jadhav and Justice N R Borkar stated that he will not be granted any leniency during his prison sentence. The court stated that he fled after the murder and was only apprehended in 2001.
Rauf Merchant had filed an appeal against his conviction in 2002, when he was accused with murder, criminal conspiracy, robbery, and possession of guns, among other charges. “Rauf Merchant’s appeal was partially granted. The conviction for murder under section 302 was upheld, however the conviction for robbery under section 392 was overturned.
No remission is permitted due to past behaviour “According to NDTV, both the defendants were represented by lawyer Satish Mane Shinde.
Mr Taurani’s acquittal was also affirmed by the high court, which dismissed the state government’s appeal. The prosecution, led by Advocate Prajakta Shinde, contended that the murder was motivated by business competition. The division bench also overturned the trial court’s decision in the case of another defendant, Abdul Rashid, and sentenced him to life in prison. He was ordered to surrender before the sessions court by the court. He was also requested to surrender his passport to the cops.
