Underworld don Chhota Rajan alias Rajendra Nikalje has approached the Bombay High Court seeking suspension of sentence and bail in the 2001 hotelier Jay Shetty murder case. The CBI has strongly opposed his plea.
A special CBI court in Mumbai pronounced its verdict against Rajan on May 30 and convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Three other shooters involved in the case were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
Jai Shetty, owner of the ‘Golden Crown’ hotel in South Mumbai, was shot dead by two unidentified men in front of his office on May 4, 2001. After the incident, one of the accused Ajay Suresh Mohite alias Ajay Surajbhan Shrestha alias Ajay Nepali alias Chikna was caught red-handed with weapons. He was accused of shooting Jai Shetty. His accomplice Kundansingh Rawat managed to escape but was later caught.
Rawat died while waiting for the trial to be completed. Mohite was shot dead in an encounter while he was on parole after his conviction. However, three, including Mohite, were sentenced to life imprisonment. The court had relied on this judgment while convicting and sentencing Rajan a few months ago.
In the trial court, Shetty’s sons had testified and told the court that they were aware that extortion calls were being made on behalf of Rajan demanding Rs 50 lakh, which their father was refusing to pay.
Rajan’s plea, filed through advocate Sudeep Pasbola, said the prosecution had not proved its case against Rajan beyond reasonable doubt and the evidence on record was not sufficient to convict him.
The petition states that the judge in his case was allegedly heavily influenced by the previous verdict. ‘The trial judge should have seen that the two cases were different and the evidence recorded was different.’ Rajan’s petition states, ‘The present case should have been decided only on the basis of the evidence recorded in it.’
The petition said that Shetty’s manager had lodged a complaint regarding threats received and this complaint was made in relation to threats given by Hemant Pujari and not Rajan. It said, ‘The mere allegation that Hemant Pujari was associated with Chhota Rajan gang was not enough to hold Rajan guilty. There was no evidence that Hemant Pujari was working at the behest of Rajan and was threatening the deceased at his behest.’
A bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan will hear Rajan’s petition on August 20. Rajan is also serving life imprisonment in the 2011 journalist J Dey murder case.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)