The Delhi High Court Friday acquitted former TV anchor and producer Suhaib Ilyasi in his wife's murder case.
A bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel allowed the appeal of Ilyasi challenging his conviction and life imprisonment for killing his wife, Anju, 18 years ago.
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".
Ilyasi, also the editor-in-chief of Bureaucracy Today magazine, faced trial for 17 years in the dowry death of his wife.
In 2014, the Delhi High Court had asked the trial court to add the graver charge of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code against Ilyasi following a plea by Anju's mother Rukma Singh.
Anju died on January 11, 2000, at her Mayur Vihar house. Ilyasi was arrested on March 28, 2000.
The trial court had framed charges against him relating to dowry death and subjecting a woman to cruelty (Section 304 (b) and Section 498 (A)). After the High Court order, Ilyasi was charged with murder.
