Overview
- The detailed judgment, made public Wednesday, explains the acquittal of five Haryana policemen and two others by accepting the self-defence plea and noting no approval to prosecute from the Haryana government.
- The court said the team was trying to arrest Sandeep Gadoli, a life convict out on bail, and pointed to a cop’s grievous gunshot injury to the forehead as support for the claim of private defence.
- The judges flagged poor handling of evidence and even left open the possibility that the crime scene and CCTV were altered, which undermined the prosecution’s case built on 43 witnesses and technical material.
- The March 27 ruling cleared officers Pradyuman Yadav, Vikram Singh, Jitendra Yadav, Deepak Kakran and Paramjeet Bhupsingh Ahlawat along with local politician Virendra “Bindar” Gujjar and Soniya Pahuja.
- The case traces back to a February 7, 2016 hotel shootout in Mumbai that killed Gadoli, a gangster wanted in more than 40 cases with a ₹1 lakh reward, and later saw co-accused Divya Pahuja’s case abate after her 2024 murder.