Bombay High Court Seeks State's Reply on Plea for SIT Probe into Baba Siddique's Murder

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government and Mumbai Police to respond to a petition filed by Shehzeen Siddique, the widow of the late former minister Baba Siddique, seeking a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into his murder. The direction was issued by a bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and R.R. Bhonsale on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. The court has asked the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) and the investigating officer to submit affidavits addressing the allegations made in the petition. The matter is scheduled for the next hearing on December 11, 2025, where the police have been directed to produce the case diary of the investigation.

Baba Siddique, a former state minister and MLA, was shot dead on October 12, 2024, outside his son Zeeshan's office in Bandra by three assailants. The incident sent shockwaves through political and business circles in Mumbai.

In her plea, Shehzeen Siddique has alleged that the police have failed to identify and arrest the real conspirators behind the killing. She has accused the investigating team of deliberately protecting a builder-developer and political nexus. The widow claims that the investigation by the Bandra police was misleading, incomplete, and later abandoned to save those involved in her husband's murder. She also claims to possess crucial WhatsApp messages and recordings that the police ignored to shield the culprits.

The court questioned the investigation officer as to why Shehzeen Siddique's statement wasn't recorded. She alleges that the police have intentionally avoided arresting the real culprits in the case by claiming the killing was the result of a conspiracy hatched by Anmol Bishnoi to instill fear and dominance over the crime syndicate.

The petition states that Zeeshan had named builders Mohit Kamboj, Prithvijeet Chavan, Ashok Mundra and Vijay Thakkar, among others, in his statement to the police, but no investigation has been done from that perspective. Shehzeen's plea alleges that the investigation has stopped at Anmol Bishnoi, while evidence points to builders involved in redeveloping slum areas in Baba Siddique's former constituency. She claimed that her husband, who safeguarded slum-dwellers' interests, was a big hurdle for builders interested in developing the slum area. She seeks an investigation by an independent police force, citing a threat message Siddique received from developer Prithvijeet Rajaram Chavan in July last year.

The court has sought legally admissible evidence, rejecting verbal assurances from the police that they were in contact with Zeeshan. The High Court will examine the police's affidavits and case diary on December 11 before deciding whether to direct further investigation or consider an SIT probe.