A special CBI court in Mumbai will announce its verdict in the Sohrabuddinn Sheikh alleged fake encounter case on 21st December.

Judge S J Sharma announced the date yesterday adding that if the judgement is not ready by 21st then it will be delivered by 24th of December.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi were killed in an encounter by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad in November 2005.

Tulsiram Prajapati, an eye-witness to the encounter, was also killed in an encounter in December 2006. The two cases were clubbed together in 2013 after the Supreme Court directed that the trial be shifted to Mumbai from Gujarat.

Of the 38 people initially charged by the CBI, 16 have been discharged so far in the case.