Bombay high court upholds conviction of shooter Abdul Rauf Merchant in Gulshan Kumar murder

The Bombay high court on Thursday upheld the 2002 trial court judgment convicting Abdul Rauf Merchant of the murder of Gulshan Kumar, founder of the music label T-Series, in 1997.

The court also dismissed the appeal against the acquittal of Ramesh Taurani, co-founder of the rival Tips Industries, in the case.

The legal website Livelaw.in stated that a bench of justice Sadhana Jadhav and justice NR Borkar set aside the trial court's order acquitting Merchant's brother, Abdul Rashid Dawood Merchant, and sentenced him also to life imprisonment.

The court noted, "Conviction and sentence passed against appellant Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant under section 302, 307 of IPC [Indian Penal Code] by the judgment of sessions court judge dated April 29, 2002, is upheld. Appellant is also convicted for the section under section 120-B of IPC. The appellant however is acquitted of charges under sections 392 (robbery) and 397 (robbery or dacoity in attempt to cause death) of IPC.”

The court also dismissed the Maharashtra government's appeal against Taurani's acquittal in the case.

On 12 August 1997, Gulshan Kumar was shot dead as he stepped out of a temple in Juhu. The investigation into the assassination uncovered an alleged rivalry with Ramesh and Kumar Taurani's Tips Industries.

Abdul Rauf Merchant, one of 19 accused in the case, was the only one convicted in 2002. He fled India in 2009 and was deported back to the country in 2016.