A convict in the 2011 Keenan-Ruben murder case has died after waiting nine years for his appeal to be heard by the Bombay High Court. This comes despite repeated Supreme Court directions urging the High Court to decide the case within three months.
A murder convict who had been waiting for his appeal to be heard by the Bombay High Court since 2016 has died, around nine months after the Supreme Court had asked the High Court to decide the matter within three months.
The case goes back to a tragic incident in October 2011 when seven friends, including three women, went to a bar to watch a cricket match. During the evening, one of the women was sexually harassed by a group of men.
When her male friends confronted the men and slapped one of them, the accused left but later returned armed with knives and a wooden stick.
They attacked the group and stabbed two of the young men, Keenan Sentoz and Ruben Fernandes, who later died of their injuries.
On May 5, 2016, a trial court convicted and sentenced four men — Jitendra Fakirchand Rana alias Chaina, Satish Nafeshing Dulgaj, Sunil Omprakash Both alias Chota, and Deepak Ishwar Omprakash Piwal — to life imprisonment for the murder. Chaina and Dulgaj were also convicted for molesting a friend of the victims.
Dulgaj, who had been in jail for over 14 years, passed away this week while his appeal against the conviction was still pending. His appeal had been admitted by the Bombay High Court in September 2017.
However, despite several listings for final hearing since September 2021, the matter was repeatedly adjourned and never came up for conclusion.
During this long delay, the father of one of the murdered youths also died on March 25 this year. Dulgaj’s appeal will now automatically abate unless his family decides to continue it on his behalf.
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The Supreme Court had taken note of this delay multiple times. One of the main convicts, Jitendra “Chaina” Rana, had approached the Supreme Court twice seeking suspension of his sentence due to the prolonged pendency.
In August 2023, the top court refused to grant him any relief, saying that it was declining to interfere
“notwithstanding his incarceration for over ten years.”
Chaina once again went to the Supreme Court last year, and on March 18, 2024, the apex court observed the delay and urged the Bombay High Court to hear his appeal quickly. The order stated:
“In the facts and circumstances of the case coupled with the fact that the appeal is of the year 2016 and was listed for consideration, we expect that the High Court will do its best to ensure that the criminal appeal of the petitioner of the year 2016 be taken up for consideration most expeditiously, preferably within a period of three months.”
Despite these directions, the appeals continued to face postponements. On March 25, 2024, a Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr. Neela Gokhale acknowledged the delay in hearing old criminal appeals. The bench wrote:
“The aforesaid appeals are listed under the caption of Directions for fixing date of hearing, pursuant to the order passed by the Apex Court on 18th February 2025. Presently, we have about more than 100 matters for admission every day on board i.e. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and about 70 to 80 matters, i.e., the matters from the Original Side on Thursday and Friday. Considering that in some cases the accused are in custody for about more than 12 to 15 years in jail, we take up the said Appeals at 4:00 pm for final hearing on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Apart from the same, we also have Confirmation Appeal for final hearing. Considering the aforesaid, list the matter for final hearing on 30th April 2025 at 2:30 p.m.”
However, even after this, the case saw further delays. On July 2, a bench of Justices Sarang V. Kotwal and Shyam C. Chandak adjourned the hearing for 14 days after the State counsel asked for time to appoint a senior lawyer.
This request came after the brother of one of the victims asked the government to appoint a Senior Counsel as Special Public Prosecutor in the case.
While granting this request, the Court reminded everyone involved that the Supreme Court had already expedited the matter.
The order said:
“At the same time, we are emphasizing the fact that the Appeal is expedited by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The learned APP and the learned Counsel for the Intervenor are specifically told that they should take urgent steps and the matter will not be adjourned unnecessarily for unreasonable period.”
Yet, the hearing was again adjourned “by consent” on August 12. The most recent order dated October 10 noted that the appeals were to be listed again on November 10 “for directions for fixing date of hearing.”
Court records also show that between these dates, the appeals kept getting transferred from one bench to another, further delaying justice in a case that has already seen tragedy, loss, and prolonged waiting for closure.
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