Former Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel claims threats, attack on family members over 2024 Dawoodi Bohra judgment

Former Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel and his family members have been facing threats for the last 10 months, with his daughter being attacked recently, allegedly over his judgment in the Dawoodi Bohra succession case delivered in 2024.

Speaking from the UK, Patel and his daughter Aditi told The Indian Express that in mid-August, there was an attempted home invasion at their house in a London suburb.

“It’s reported to the local police. September 3, 2025, a threatening letter arrives, which essentially says there’s a message for Gautam Patel, but it’s addressed to my daughter and her husband, and says you have delivered a false, corrupt judgment in the Dawoodi Bohra case, references the case specifically, and says we are a powerful guild of Dawoodi Bohras, and we have engaged a criminal syndicate. A dangerous criminal syndicate,” Patel says.

The letter warned Patel to adhere to the instructions by September end or else “harm” would befall him and his family.

“And what is demanded is that I leave the country, which means leave India for an unknown destination, make a YouTube video recanting my judgment of April 23, 2024. Now, this is happening in August 2025, a year-and-a-half after I retired,” adds Patel.

Patel was asked to give interviews to the bar association and even testify in court, calling his judgment wrong.

The letters reportedly demand recantation of the judgment, which declared Syedna Muffadal Saifuddin as the rightful claimant to the position of the Dai-al-Mutlaq or the spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community after the death of his father, Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin in 2014.

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The judge had decided a suit that challenged the position as the spiritual head of the community by Syedna’s half-brother, Khuzaima Qutbuddin, in the Bombay High Court. After Qutbuddin died in 2016 in the US, his son, Syedna Taher Fakhruddin, became the plaintiff and wanted to be declared the leader of the Dawoodi Bohras. Fakhruddin claimed his father conferred the nass or the conferment of succession upon him and thus he should be declared the Dai.

One of the letter sent to Patel alleges that he “succumbed to corruption and pressure” to deliver a “fraudulent and faulty” judgment. “You have made a mockery of justice and shattered your own legacy…. We are a powerful guild of DB community members interested in justice being served for our community.”

The letter adds, “Your cowardice has enabled the defendant 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 change the true Dawoodi Bohra doctrine to suit his purposes. We will not allow this to continue.”

Aditi, who works in the education technology sector and has no ties with the legal world, says, “And they claimed responsibility for the home invasion and included video evidence (on an SD card) of their hired criminal, conducting that invasion.”

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‘Fractured nose’

On April 22, at around 8.45 am, Aditi had gone to drop her child off at a nearby school. On her way back home, she was attacked from behind by a guy in a “mask and a hoodie”. She was punched repeatedly in the face and suffered a fractured nose.

“Neighbours came running, so the man ran away. Again, we reported here to the local police. At the moment, they connect the two events. It’s not a random event. It’s not a random mugging. This is a very safe neighbourhood. No such thing has ever happened here before,” said Patel.

The daughter received another letter on June 5, which reads, “Here we are. You were given ample warning. The gang has been paid. The next step involves cremation. Yours and your family. You can cancel the contract by doing what you were told in the last letter. Attached is the chip. Shows what happens because you choose not to comply.” The letter also enclosed an SD card, which the family has opened on a computer.

Patel’s wife, too, had received an identical envelope in Mumbai, following which the family alerted the local police in Mumbai and got protection.

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The daughter said the police in the UK had closed the case in the intervening months leading to the April incident. “They tell us they have no further leads. They couldn’t find anything. No forensics. So they closed it. We assume that all proper channels and authorities were exhausted and so we trust to have full faith in the authorities. It’s the Hertfordshire Constabulary.”

Patel filed a non-cognisance complaint with the Mumbai Police on September 9, 2025.

“So we’ve now pursued all the channels with the police, with the Indian High Commission here and everyone. At present, nothing has happened in Mumbai, but it’s all been centred in London. And the group says that it’s a guild of powerful Dawoodi Bohras and specifically demands a recantation of that judgment,” said Patel.

He continued, ”I’ve reported to the Commissioner of Police that such and such a thing has happened, but nothing has happened on Indian soil, yet. I’m expecting it.”

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Patel raised “two levels” of concern — one over his close family members and the second about the system.

“Which judge is ever going to decide a matter and who’s going to read a judgment if this is the kind of thing that go on after you do your job diligently, faithfully, deliver a judgment, and this is what begins to happen. To what end? What’s the end of this? Has to be some mechanism by which secured and safeguarded,” he said.

As of now, Patel plans to be in London for the “foreseeable future”.

Bombay Bar condemns attacks

In a resolution dated June 8, the Bombay Bar Association expressed grave concern over the “threats, intimidation, harassment and acts of violence” directed against Patel and members of his family following the judgment in the Syedna succession dispute.

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“The Association records its strongest condemnation of any attempt to threaten, intimidate, harass, assault or otherwise target a Judge or members of a Judge’s family on account of the discharge of judicial functions. Reports that a member of Justice Patel’s family suffered physical injury in the course of one of these incidents render the matter particularly disturbing and warrant the most serious attention of the authorities,” the resolution issued by its president Nitin Thakker stated.

Attempts were made to contact officials at Hertfordshire Constabulary, Mumbai Police and the Indian High Commission in London. The story will be updated upon receiving their responses.