Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 17: The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the Bombay High Court's decision to grant bail to underworld don Rajendra S. Nikalje, popularly known as Chhota Rajan, in connection with the high-profile 2001 murder of Mumbai hotelier Jaya Shetty.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta allowed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), effectively reinstating Rajan’s life sentence handed down by a Special MCOCA Court.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the CBI, argued that Rajan had already been convicted in four separate criminal cases and remained on the run for nearly 27 years before his eventual arrest and deportation from Indonesia in 2015. The apex court took note of these submissions while setting aside the earlier bail order.
Rajan, a key figure in Mumbai’s underworld and a former ally turned arch-rival of Dawood Ibrahim, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special Court in the Shetty murder case—marking his second life sentence in under a decade. Despite filing an appeal, the Bombay High Court, in October last year, temporarily suspended his sentence and granted bail. The bench, comprising Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj K. Chavan, had ordered his release pending the outcome of the appeal.
However, Rajan never walked out of jail, as he is currently serving another life sentence in Tihar Jail for the 2011 murder of investigative journalist Jyotirmoy Dey.
The murder of Jaya Shetty—owner of the Golden Crown Hotel in south Mumbai—shocked the city. On May 4, 2001, two gunmen shot Shetty dead in broad daylight. The killing was allegedly orchestrated by Rajan as part of a gangland rivalry with Dawood Ibrahim. At the time of his murder, Shetty had recently lost police protection, which had been granted following extortion threats but withdrawn shortly before the fatal attack.
The Shetty case was one of 71 serious criminal charges handed over by Indian authorities to Indonesia after Rajan’s arrest in Bali. Following a lengthy trial, Special Judge A.M. Patil of the MCOCA Court found Rajan and his associates—Rahul Pansare, Ajay Mohite, and Pramod Dhonde—guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
With the Supreme Court's latest order, Rajan's attempt at securing relief from the life term has once again been thwarted, underscoring the judiciary’s firm stance on high-profile criminal convictions.