The Hindu : Bharat Shah convicted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2003

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Bharat Shah convicted

By Arunkumar Bhatt

PTI file photo shows Film producer Bharat Shah, (center) outside a court in Mumbai.

MUMBAI SEPT. 30. While the special court here found today the film financier and diamond king, Bharat Shah, guilty of having facilitated the crime of targeting film personalities for extortion, his co-accused, film producer Nasim Rizvi, and the latter's assistant, Abdul Rahim Allahbaksh Khan, were convicted of having conspired to commit the crime.

In a much awaited verdict, the Special Judge, A.P. Bhangale, convicted Bharat Shah under IPC 118 (concealing a design to commit an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life if the offence be committed) for concealing his knowledge that Rizvi was an agent of gangster Chhota Shakeel and was engaged in extortion. Both, Rizvi and Allahbaksh are convicted under the IPC and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

The court found that Rizvi and Allahbaksh had active links with the underworld and were targeting different film personalities for personal gains.

Mr. Bhangale will pronounce the punishment tomorrow. He acquitted the fourth accused, Dubai-based trader, Mohammad Shamshuddin alias Bhatija. Bharat Shah gets the benefit of doubt as the court has held that he had no knowledge of Rizvi's underworld connections when he decided to finance his film, `Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' but he did not inform police when he came to know of it.

The court found no evidence that Chhota Shakeel funded the movie through Bharat Shah and held that the latter did so on his own. Police had accused Bharat Shah of passing on money to Chhota Shakeel and other underworld dons through `havala.' But this charge was not proved.

But Rizvi and Allahbaksh were found to be "hand in glove" with the crime syndicate beyond any doubt. The court relied on 17 telephonic conversations that police had recorded and also on Rizvi's own confession.

The court had examined as many as 76 witnesses in the trial that proved to be one of the most sensational since 14 of them have been film personalities. They include stars such as Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Preity Zinta and producer-directors Rakesh Roshan, Sanjay Gupta, Mahesh Manjrekar and Anees Bazmee and producers, Harish Sugand, Ratan Jain and Mohammad Morani.

The police-taped telephonic conversation that the accused had with Chhota Shakeel revealed that all these big names of the Bollywood were the targets of the underworld's strong-arm tactics but saving Preity Zinta, all had developed cold feet and turned hostile.

Ms. Zinta, the heroin of Rizvi's film, `Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' had told the court about the threats and extortion demands she had received from the underworld. Her statement was recorded in-camera in the presence of the accused and the defence lawyers.

Rizvi was arrested in December 2000 and Bharat Shah in January 2001 after months-long eavesdropping by police of their conversation with the now Pakistan-based don, Chhota Shakeel. Bharat Shah's bail plea was rejected by the lower court seven times and the Mumbai High Court once. Finally, he got the bail from the Supreme Court after 15 months.

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