Doubting claim of complaint, Shakeel kin & aide get bail

Mumbai: Raising doubt over claims made by the complainant in an extortion case of 2022 against gangster Chhotas Shakeel's brother-in-law Salim Fruit and aide Riyaz Bhati, a special court granted cash bail of Rs 1 lakh.
Additional special sessions judge Chakor Baviskar observed: "This is ridiculous and absurd. At the birthday party of Riyaz Bhati, after the complainant was introduced to Salim Fruit with the specification that the latter is a co-brother of Chhota Shakeel and handles all his transactions in Mumbai, the complainant claimed to be scared.If the complainant was truly frightened of Salim Fruit, the complainant certainly would not have gone to the club of ‘Shekhar Anna' to play cards with Salim Fruit. These facts create doubts against the complainant. By no stretch of the imagination can this act be connected with any organised crime syndicate, much less one headed by dreaded gangster Chhota Shakeel."
The Special Court raised serious doubt about the complainant's credibility. The court reviewed the history of complaints lodged by the same individual against Bhati, pointing to inconsistencies and contradictions in complainant's statements.
The case stems from an FIR filed on September 26, 2022, accusing Bhati of extorting money for expenses of a birthday party held in Feb 2021 at a five-star hotel. However, the court noted that the complainant previously lodged two complaints against Bhati—on Nov 21, 2021, and Sept 19, 2022—but did not mention the alleged extortion in either. It was only in a supplementary statement recorded on Sept 29, 2022, that the complainant claimed Bhati extorted him for the party expenses.
The court found this delay in mentioning the extortion suspicious and labelled it as an "afterthought," undermining the credibility of the accusation. Furthermore, the court highlighted that the complainant was previously involved in a case against Bhati for similar charges in 2021 but failed to provide consistent evidence during the trial. This led to Bhati's acquittal by a metropolitan magistrate in May this year.
The court also expressed scepticism over claims that Bhati's associate, Salim Fruit, used his connections to gangster Chhota Shakeel to intimidate the complainant during a card game. "Bhati's release is a testament to the court's recognition of the crux of my argument presented before the court regarding the lacuna in the investigation and the chargesheet to indict him as a member of an organised crime syndicate, and the same fortified my belief that justice always prevails," said advocate Sana Raees Khan.