Nearly 24 years after T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar's assassination, the Bombay High Court, on Thursday, upheld the conviction of Abdul Rauf Merchant in the murder case. According to a publication, Justice Sadhana Jadhav and Justice NR Borkar sentenced him to life imprisonment. Reportedly, his brother Abdul Rashid Dawood Merchant has been given a life term after conviction by the Bombay High Court. 

The Bombay High Court pronounced Abdul Rauf Merchant guilty under sections 302 (murder), 307(intention to kill), 34 (vicarious liability for crimes) of the IPC. Abdul Rashid Dawood Merchant has been pronounced guilty under sections 302 r/w 120b and 27 of the Indian Arms Act whereas the court upheld the acquittal of film producer and Tips Industries co-founder Ramesh Taurani. 

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T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar was shot dead on August 12, 1997, while coming out of a temple at Jeet Nagar in Juhu. He died on the spot after being shot 16 bullets by three assailants. After a fortnight, music composer Nadeem Saifee was reportedly accused of allegedly hiring killers and co-conspiring to kill Gulshan. Nadeem fled to the United Kingdom to evade arrest and later relocated to Dubai. 

Ramesh, who was reportedly arrested on charges of abetting Gulshan's murder in October 1997, was later acquitted when the police failed to establish the accusation in court in 2002. The producer, who is T-Series's biggest rival in the Hindi music industry, was accused of paying Rs 25 lacs to the killers. Abdul Rauf Merchant, the main accused was arrested from Kolkata in January 2001. Eighteen others were also arrested and police filed a 400-page charge sheet naming 26 people.

(Source: Live Law/ Republic)