Retd Bombay HC judge faces threats, family in UK attacked over 2024 Bohra verdict

THe fellowship of retired Bombay heights margaret court try GS Patel has, for 10 months at present, faced threats and actual acts of violence across two continents in connection with his landmark 2024 judgment settling the succession issue in the Dawoodi Bohra community, with the most recent incident being on June 5.The demand is that Justice (retd) Patel recant his judgment of April 23, 2024 in a YouTube video, something that is unprecedented in the annals of Indian legal history, especially not at the level of a constitutional court.Last week, on June 5, Patel’s daughter in London, Aditi Patel, received an anonymous letter that read: “You were given ample warning. The gang has been paid. The next step involves cremation of you and your family. You can cancel the contract by doing what you were told in the last letter. Attached is a chip that shows what happens because you chose not to comply.” The letter, purportedly sent from Germany — it bears a German stamp — was sent from a fake London address by a certain ‘Dye Sun Ent: Die Soon Enterprises’. An SD card attached to the letter has been taken by the Hertfordshire police as part of its investigation. The family did not try to open the card on their computer, fearing it could corrupt or take over their systems. HT couldn’t independently ascertain its contents from the police.Justice Patel said he has written to the Indian High Commissioner in London and the acting chief justice of the Bombay high court, and has also apprised the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, of the matter. “I have been retired since April 2024. A judgment of the Bombay High Court cannot be recanted by a YouTube video,” he added.The cycle of threats and violence began in August last year. Justice Patel’s wife, Malashri Patel, received a letter in their Mumbai home. “We are a powerful guild of the DB (Dawoodi Bohra) community members interested in justice being served for our community…We have employed a very capable and dangerous syndicate who carried out the warning in London…” it said. It was unsigned and undated. At the same time, in London, Justice Patel’s daughter, Aditi Patel, received a similar letter, which, in addition, claimed responsibility for the break-in into her home in a London suburb in August 2025.Then, on April 22 this year, while his daughter was on a school run, a masked man accosted her from behind and assaulted her, breaking her nose and leaving her bloodied on the road.The letters to the Patel family also give detailed instructions on how the retired judge should walk back his judgment, including recording a YouTube video stating he was coerced into issuing the order and disseminating it to the media and the Bombay Bar Association. On September 9 last year, the Gamdevi police in Mumbai registered a non-cognisable complaint based on the letter. In London, his daughter and son-in-law registered a complaint with the UK police. The West Hertfordshire counter-terrorism unit is reviewing the April 22 assault on Aditi Patel.Mark Clawson, Detective Superintendent at the Hertfordshire Constabulary, confirmed that the threats and the attack on Aditi Patel were being investigated but refused to divulge any details, stating, “The case is a live investigation.” Officials at the Indian High Commission in London told HT that they were aware of the case and have taken appropriate steps to help Justice Patel’s family.This alleged campaign of threats and violence arises from Justice Patel’s 2024 judgment affixing who the real spiritual head of the million-strong Dawoodi Bohra community is--a matter which has cleaved the community. Following the death of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the 52nd spiritual and temporal leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community in Mumbai in 2014, a suit was filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the appointment of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin’s son, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, as the next Dai al-Mutlaq or the supreme leader.The challenger was his uncle Khuzaima Qutbuddin, and after his death in 2016, the suit was taken up by his cousin Taher Fakhruddin. On April 23, 2024, Justice Patel dismissed the Taher Fakruddin-led Qutbi Bohra faction’s suit, citing a lack of credible proof of divine right, and affirmed Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin as the rightful 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq. The Fakruddin faction has since appealed against the judgment before a division bench of the Bombay HC.“Syedna Taher Fakhruddin Saheb unequivocally condemns any such threats and violence...These acts are clearly meant to malign us and attempt to derail the appeal,” Aziz Bhaisaheb Qutbuddin, brother of Taher Fakhruddin, and director of communications for Syedna Taher Fakhruddin, said.Separately, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court is hearing another critical case pertaining to the religious practice of female circumcision called khatna among the Dawoodi Bohras (Sunita Tiwari v Union of India). Activists argue that FGM violates human rights and bodily integrity. Among the intervenors in the ongoing case is the Dawoodi Bohra Women’s Association for Religious Freedom (DBWRF), which asserts FMG is a harmless cultural practice.In one of the letters sent to judge Patel’s family, there is even a mention of the FGM case. It says, referring to Justice Patel: “Your cowardice has enabled the defendant (the Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin faction) to continue to employ violence, threats and coercion tactics upon community members to fleece them for as much as he can and force them to follow reprehensible practices such as FGM etc., and most importantly, to change the true Dawoodi Bohra doctrine to suit his purposes. We will not allow this to continue.”Justice Patel says an appeal is the legitimate way to go about things. “The appeal mechanism, which the Qutbi faction is already actively using, is the only correct legal route to challenge a judgment. Thus, the demands (to release a video going back on his verdict) exist not as a genuine attempt to correct a legal outcome, but purely as a coercion instrument: to manufacture false evidence of judicial corruption that could influence the appeal, and to humiliate and break a judge who did his duty faithfully.”Justice Patel also said that the threats issued to him and his family have been carefully calibrated, taking advantage of the jurisdictional divide between India and the UK.He said that, while he had diligently pursued the official chain of command, the threat to his family persisted.“I have approached the authorities, and no one has rebuffed me. I also understand that the jurisdictional remit of the authorities is limited to India. But then this would be a systemic failure. A judge is expected to work without fear or favour, but who will want to be a judge if they and their family members face such threats?” he said.