MUMBAI: Until recently, celebrity-spotters hoping to catch a glimpse of film stars would stake out Bandra Bandstand, Juhu or Film City in the suburbs. The hunt has now taken an unexpected turn to south Mumbai-to Courtroom No. 55, tucked away on the fifth floor of a building in the city civil and sessions court complex in Kala Ghoda.
For those tracking Bollywood's uneasy brush with the gangland network of Lawrence Bishnoi, this is the arena where the famous meet the infamous.
Presided over by special judge Satyanarayan Ramjivan Navandar, the court is hearing a cluster of cases linked to the Lawrence gang under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA). The list includes alleged firing outside actor Salman Khan's Bandra residence and filmmaker Rohit Shetty's home, and the murder of politician Baba Siddique who had ties with Bollywood's elite. If MCOCA is invoked in the attack on actor Tiger Shroff, that matter too could find its way here.
It was the Salman Khan case hearings that first brought the chamber into the spotlight. He is expected to appear as a key witness along with his brother, actor-producer Arbaaz.
It was on the same building's fourth floor in Courtroom No 52 that Salman was sentenced to 5 years in jail for running over four people and killing one in 2002 (he was acquitted by Bombay high court). His repeated appearances over 2 years then drew large crowds.
Among regular visitors was Pranita Fulsagar from Pune who travelled four hours for every hearing. Now married to a cop and mother to twins, Fulsagar, 32, is hoping to see the actor in person again. "I have a book full of his pictures," she said. "I want him to live a full and happy life," she said.
Scaling pipes, just to see a bit of Salman in courtQuiet courtrooms in the City Civil and Sessions Court complex have often been dramatically transformed during sensational trials into packed spaced filled with lawyers, litigants, court staff and curious onlookers. They make up a motley bunch. One frequent attendee at Salman’s last trial was a senior citizen from Bandra, who took notes with coloured pens and claimed he had been at the accident spot on the night of the incident. For the Salman Khan case of 2002, the day of the judgment in May 2015 was marked by special arrangements.
Entry to the fourth-floor courtroom was cordoned off, and people scaled the building opposite the court using water pipelines to catch a glimpse of Khan through the courtroom window. Court staff fear a repeat of the dangerous climb, this time a floor higher, when Khan arrives to depose in the MCOCA trial. Threats received by the actor from the Bishnoi network culminated in the firing outside his home on Apr 14, 2024 and triggered a major investigation into organised crime rackets operating across states.
The Baba Siddique case has added a graver dimension. Siddique was shot dead outside his son’s office in Bandra (E) on Oct 12, 2024. Police linked the murder to Bishnoi-led organised crime activity. The tone in court around such a case is sombre. Even in a room used to high-profile name-dropping, a murder trial changes the atmosphere. There is less whispering, more note-taking, and a constant reminder that behind every “sensational case” is a dead man, a grieving family and a prosecution required to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The Rohit Shetty case has added to the impression that Courtroom 55 is the place where cases involving alleged gang threats to Bollywood are heard. Now, with reports that the Tiger Shroff case may be tried under MCOCA, Courtroom No 55 could see another high-profile number. MCOCA cases are not routine assignments, they require allegations of organised crime activity, prior offences, continuing unlawful activity and sanction from the authorities.
If that threshold is crossed, Courtroom No 55 could be assigned with hearing more such remands. Yet despite the celebrity backdrop, everyday life inside 55 remains rooted in bureaucratic reality. Known for maintaining a strict, no-nonsense courtroom, Judge Navandar delivers sharp judicial remarks when police procedure falters.
When investigators recently faced difficulty securing physical custody of Anmol Bishnoi, the judge pulled up the Crime Branch for showing little effort and asked why video conferencing had not been used if transfer orders were stuck in red tape. In 55, celebrity, box-office success and gangster notoriety carry little weight if the paperwork is not in order.
