A three-judge Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol, and Sandeep Mehta, issued a notice to Chhota Rajan and sought his response within four weeks.
New Delhi, February 8: The Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against a Bombay High Court order that suspended the life sentence of gangster Chhota Rajan in the 2021 murder case of Mumbai hotelier Jaya Shetty. The High Court had also granted him bail.
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A three-judge Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol, and Sandeep Mehta, issued a notice to Chhota Rajan and sought his response within four weeks.
“Issue notice, returnable within four weeks. In the meantime, counsel for the petitioner shall also clear the defects as pointed out by the Registry,” the bench stated.
Jaya Shetty, who owned the Golden Crown hotel located in the Gamdevi area of central Mumbai, was shot dead on May 4, 2001. Two members of Chhota Rajan’s gang carried out the killing on the first floor of his hotel.
Investigations revealed that Shetty had been receiving extortion calls from Hemant Pujari, a close aide of Chhota Rajan. The probe further suggested that Shetty was murdered after he failed to pay the demanded money.
In May 2023, a special court convicted Chhota Rajan for his role in Shetty’s murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, Rajan appealed against the conviction in the Bombay High Court.
On October 23, 2024, the High Court suspended his life sentence and granted him bail. This decision was later challenged by the CBI in the Supreme Court.
Chhota Rajan, already serving a life term for the murder of senior crime journalist J Dey, is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
