CBI court acquits two men booked in 1989 for ‘conspiring’ to kill industrialist Nusli Wadia

Special Judge S P Naik-Nimbalkar said that the prosecution had failed to prove its case.

The case dates back to 1988, when it was claimed that Ambani, a former general manager with Reliance Industries Limited and Babaria, a musician, had entered into a conspiracy with the other accused to murder Wadia. It was alleged that Sequera was hired to commit the act by intercepting Wadia’s car when he was returning from office.

The prosecution had alleged that meetings were held to discuss the plan but subsequently, it was not executed. It added that then Bombay CID got wind of the conspiracy through intercepted calls and arrested Ambani and Babaria in July 1989. Subsequently, Sequera and Jagothia were also arrested.

The CBI took over the case the same year.

Charges were framed against the accused in 2003. Among the witnesses examined was Wadia. The CBI had recorded his statement but decided not to examine him during the trial. Wadia had then approached court seeking to be examined to make disclosures of the alleged motive and conspiracy.

Ambani had sought for the hearing to be made in-camera, not allowing the media to report on it. The special CBI court had allowed the media to report on Wadia’s deposition, excluding anything related with the business rivalry between Reliance and Wadia’s Bombay Dyeing.

In 2016, Wadia deposed, stating that he was informed that there was a conspiracy to murder him and had been told by the police that there were threats to kidnap his two sons.

Sequera, through his lawyer Wahab Khan, had said that there was no evidence to link him to the alleged conspiracy. He said the recordings and transcripts of the phone calls between the accused were not admissible, as no order was issued for interception. The court was also told that the CBI had not been able to show any motive behind the conspiracy.

The court directed the disposal of articles seized in 1989, including photo albums, telephone diaries and cassettes after the appeal period is over.