Court rules 2018 HDFC VP murder accused Sarfaraz Shaikh must be tried as adult

A Mumbai sessions court on Thursday rejected a plea by Sarfaraz Shaikh, the accused in the 2018 murder of HDFC Bank vice-president Siddharth Sanghvi, seeking to be declared a minor. Additional Sessions Judge Anil D Salunkhe ruled that Shaikh must be tried as an adult for the crime, which occurred in a Lower Parel parking lot.

The victim, 39-year-old Sanghvi, went missing after leaving his Lower Parel office on September 5, 2018. His body was later recovered near Haji Malang Road in Kalyan. Shaikh was arrested on September 9, 2018, and police alleged that robbery was the motive for the murder.

In 2024, Shaikh's defence lawyer filed a plea claiming that the accused was born on July 20, 2001. This would have made him 17 years, 1 month, and 16 days old at the time of the offence. Citing the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the defence argued that Shaikh should be transferred to the Juvenile Justice Board and submitted a school leaving certificate.

However, public prosecutor Ashwini Rayakar argued that the claim was a fabrication. The prosecution presented a driving licence issued to Shaikh on January 25, 2018, and a school leaving certificate from R K Dakshan Public School in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, which listed his birth date as January 1, 1993.

Furthermore, an ossification test concluded that Shaikh was between 25 and 28 years old at the time of the killing. Statements from school officials and education authorities also revealed that the transfer certificate submitted by Shaikh was fake, as its serial number belonged to another student.

Judge Salunkhe noted that the accused failed to produce any other material to establish his juvenility. He ruled that Shaikh was not a juvenile on the day of the incident and rejected the application. Shaikh, who has been in custody since September 2018, will now face a standard criminal trial as an adult.