The
Bombay
High
Court
on
Thursday
upheld
the
acquittal
of
film
producer
and
Tips
Industries
co-founder
Ramesh
Taurani
in
the
case
of
murder
of
music
baron
Gulshan
Kumar
in
1997,
and
also
confirmed
the
conviction
and
life
sentence
imposed
on
accused
Abdul
Rauf
Merchant.
A
division
bench
of
Justices
S
S
Jadhav
and
N
R
Borkar
quashed
the
acquittal
of
another
accused
in
the
case-
Abdul
Rashid
Merchant,
brother
of
Rauf,
and
convicted
him
to
life
imprisonment.
Gulshan
Kumar,
also
known
as
the
'Cassette
king',
was
shot
dead
in
August
1997
outside
a
temple
in
suburban
Andheri.
According
to
the
prosecution,
his
rivals
had
paid
money
to
gangster
Abu
Salem
to
eliminate
him.
On
April
29,
2002,
a
sessions
court
acquitted
18
of
the
19
accused.
The
trial
court
convicted
Rauf
under
Sections
302
(murder),
307
(attempt
to
murder),
120(b)
(criminal
conspiracy),
392
(robbery)
and
397
(causing
grievous
hurt
in
robbery)
of
the
Indian
Penal
Code
and
section
27
(possession
of
arms)
of
the
Indian
Arms
Act.
Rauf
subsequently
appealed
against
the
conviction,
while
the
state
government
filed
an
appeal
against
the
acquittal
of
Taurani.
On
Thursday,
the
high
court
dismissed
the
state
government's
appeal
and
upheld
the
acquittal
of
Taurani.
The
bench,
however,
upheld
the
conviction
of
Rauf
and
also
the
life
sentence
imposed
on
him,
but
quashed
and
set
aside
his
conviction
under
sections
392
and
397.
"The
acquittal
of
another
accused
Abdul
Rashid
Merchant
is
quashed.
Rashid
is
convicted
under
sections
302,
120(b)
of
the
IPC
and
section
27
of
the
Indian
Arms
Act.
The
accused
is
sentenced
to
life
imprisonment.
He
is
directed
to
surrender
forthwith
to
the
trial
court
or
the
D
N
Nagar
police
station,"
the
high
court
said
in
its
order.
The
bench
also
said
Abdul
Rauf
Merchant
would
not
be
entitled
to
remission,
considering
his
conduct
during
the
trial.
"The
appellant
(Rauf)
shall
not
be
entitled
to
remission
considering
his
criminal
antecedents
and
in
the
interest
of
justice
and
public
at
large,
he
is
not
entitled
to
any
leniency,”
the
court
said.
The
court
noted
that
after
the
killing,
Rauf
had
absconded
and
was
arrested
only
in
2001.
"In
2009,
he
(Rauf)
was
granted
furlough,
but
he
did
not
surrender
and
had
to
be
arrested
in
2016
again,”
the
bench
said.
The
court
said
if
Rashid
fails
to
surrender,
then
the
sessions
court
can
issue
a
non-bailable
warrant.