Bombay HC Upholds Life Sentence For Sajjad Pathan In Lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha's 2012 Murder Case; Rejects State’s Death Penalty Plea

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday confirmed the life sentence of Sajjad Mugal Pathan, convicted for killing lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha in 2012, observing that the prosecution had established its case “beyond all reasonable doubt based on legal, admissible, and cogent evidence.”

Court Upholds Trial Court’s Conviction

“The evidence on record, when assessed in its entirety, establishes the guilt of the appellant (Pathan) beyond all reasonable doubt. The observations of the trial court are compelling and do not warrant any interference,” a bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Neela Gokhale said while dismissing the appeal filed by Pathan challenging the life sentence awarded to him by the sessions court in 2014.

Death Penalty Plea Dismissed; Life Term for Remainder of Natural Life

The bench also dismissed the appeal filed by the state government seeking the death sentence for Pathan. Pallavi’s father, Delhi-based retired IAS officer Atanu Purkayastha, had also filed a plea seeking enhancement of the life sentence.

The court, however, clarified that Pathan will have to serve his sentence for the “remainder of his natural life.” It added, “He will not be entitled to parole or furlough. We deem this appropriate based on the conduct of the convict, who had earlier absconded and was returned to prison after a period of one and a half years from near the Pakistan border.”

Details of the 2012 Murder Case

On August 9, 2012, Pallavi was found dead with her throat slit at her rented 16th-floor apartment in Wadala. She worked as a legal advisor with actor-director Farhan Akhtar’s firm, Excel Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

She lived with her partner Avik Sengupta, who returned home from work and found her body lying in a pool of blood.

The Mumbai Police arrested Pathan at Mumbai Central railway terminus before he could board a train to Surat, from where he planned to flee to Jammu and Kashmir, his native place.

How the Crime Was Committed

According to the police, Pathan had deliberately cut off the power supply to Pallavi’s flat before the murder. When she called electricians to get it restored, he took the opportunity to enter her house and steal a set of keys.

In July 2014, the sessions court convicted Pathan — who worked as a security guard in the building where 25-year-old Pallavi lived — for murder, molestation, and criminal trespass, sentencing him to life imprisonment. The court refused to award the death penalty, as sought by the prosecution, observing that the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category.

Absconding Incident and Rearrest

In February 2016, Pathan was granted parole by the Nashik jail authorities. However, he failed to report back to jail after the stipulated period and was rearrested in 2023.

High Court’s Observations

In a detailed 79-page judgment, the High Court noted that an in-depth analysis of the case facts and witness testimonies established Pathan’s guilt.

Narrating the chain of events, the court said: “All these established facts are consistent with Sajjad’s guilt, and the chain of evidence is so complete that there is no reasonable ground for a conclusion consistent with his innocence. In all human probability, the act of murder of the deceased was committed by Sajjad.”

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The court upheld the “well-reasoned and legally sound decision” of the trial court, observing: “We thus consider it appropriate to confirm the sentence of imprisonment for life, to mean the remainder of his natural life, while upholding the conviction under Sections 302 and 354 of the IPC.”

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