HC acquits former TV anchor Suhaib Ilyasi in wife's murder case

The Delhi High Court Friday acquitted former TV anchor and producer Suhaib Ilyasi of the charge of killing his wife 18 years ago, saying the prosecution's case of murder was not established.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel allowed the appeal of 52-year-old Ilyasi challenging his conviction and life imprisonment awarded by the trial court in December last year.

The bench held there was nothing to suggest that Ilyasi deliberately delayed medical assistance for his wife Anju, who was first taken to a private hospital and then to the AIIMS where she was declared dead.

The incident took place on the intervening night of January 10-11, 2000 when Anju was rushed to a hospital with stab wounds she received at her East Delhi residence.

The trial court had on December 20, 2017 sentenced Ilyasi, who had shot into limelight after hosting TV crime show -- 'India's Most Wanted' -- to life term for stabbing his wife to death, saying he "committed murder and gave it a colour of suicide".

The bench set aside the trial court's verdict and said the prosecution has failed to prove his guilt for the offence of murder and that he be released forthwith unless wanted in some other case.

It said merely because the victim was found to be in good spirits around two hours prior to the incident, it would not rule out the possibility of her committing suicide by stabbing herself as a result of her quarrel with her husband.

"The precise circumstances that led to the said decision of the deceased might be difficult to explain but surmises and conjectures cannot substitute proof," it said.

Ilyasi's daughter Aaliya, who was present at the time of pronouncement of the verdict, expressed happiness over the decision and said she always had trust in her father.

"I am very very happy. I am not able to express myself much right now. For all this while, we were silent about it because the judgement was yet to come. We have suffered a lot but I trust my father completely and I had always trusted him," she said.

At the beginning of the judgement, the bench posed the question, "Did the appellant murder his wife or was it a case of suicide?"