The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Maharashtra government on film financer Bharat K Shah's petition challenging the framing of murder charges against him saying there was no evidence to link him to any conspiracy by the underworld to murder film personalities.
A bench comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice Arun Kumar issued the notice and asked the Maharashtra government to file its reply within four weeks.
Appearing for Shah, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said that in the voluminous evidence prepared by the prosecution there is 'not even a whisper' about Shah's involvement in any conspiracy to murder any film personality.
Eighteen months after Shah was booked in a case of alleged nexus with the underworld, a Mumbai court on June 13, 2002, had framed charges against him and three others.
Shah, producer Nasim Rizvi, his assistant Abdul Rahim Allah Baksh and Dubai-based diamond merchant Mohammed Shamshuddin alias Bhatija had denied the charges.
The accused were charged with offences under section 120-b of the Indian Penal Code (conspiracy), section 115 (abetment of offence punishable with death or life imprisonment) read with section
302 (murder). They were also charged under various provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.