The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to 10 convicts in the Hashimpura massacre case in Uttar Pradesh. The case dates back to 1987. Officers and jawans of UP’s Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) shot 42 to 45 people. 38 people were killed in this. According to news website Live Law, senior advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing before a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih, argued that the Delhi High Court had overturned the trial court’s decision on the basis of wrong facts. The trial court, while giving its verdict in 2015, nearly 28 years after the incident, acquitted all the accused on the basis of lack of evidence. However, the Delhi High Court sentenced 16 people to life imprisonment in 2018. Advocate Tiwari argued that the petition against the High Court’s decision is pending in the Supreme Court, but all are in jail since 2018. For this reason, they should be granted bail. What is Hashimpura Massacre? According to a report in The Hindu, in 1987, communal tension was raging in Meerut, a city in western Uttar Pradesh, over the Babri Masjid dispute. The PAC and the army conducted a search operation in the Hashimpura area of the city. During this, two PAC rifles were looted and a relative of a major was killed. After this, the PAC caught about 42-45 young and old people and took them away in a yellow truck of the C-company of the 41st battalion. However, instead of taking them to the police station, they were taken to a canal near Ghaziabad. There the PAC jawans shot them. Some bodies were thrown into the Ganges canal and the rest into the Hindon river. 38 people were killed in this. The bodies of most were not even found. Only 11 bodies were identified by their relatives. However, five people survived. During the firing, they pretended to be dead and swam out of the water. The case was made on the basis of their testimony. Charge sheet filed after 9 years
The incident shook the minorities. The investigation of the case was handed over to CB-CID (Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department). Nearly 9 years after this gruesome incident, a charge sheet was filed in the Criminal Court of Ghaziabad in 1996. The order of the Delhi High Court shows that the Ghaziabad Court issued more than 20 warrants in three years, but all were ineffective. After some time, on the petition of the families of the victims, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Delhi. All the accused acquitted by the trial court due to evidence
In May 2006, the trial court of Delhi framed charges against 19 accused in cases of murder, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, destruction of evidence and rioting, among others. However, the negligence did not end here. The statements of the accused were recorded in May 2014, nearly 8 years later. During this time three accused also died. The next year i.e. in 2015, all the remaining 16 accused were acquitted by the trial court. The court said that the evidence needed to link the accused to the murder was missing. Justice was given after 31 years, life imprisonment to all
The trial court’s decision was challenged by the victims and their families in the Delhi High Court. The court allowed the National Human Rights Commission to intervene for further investigation. The High Court also allowed adding additional evidence. The High Court held all guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120-B (criminal conspiracy). Nearly 31 years after the incident, on October 31, 2018, the High Court overturned the trial court’s decision and sentenced all 16 accused to life imprisonment. However, after being proven guilty, all filed a petition in the Supreme Court, which is pending. The High Court said – Target killing of minorities took place
The High Court considered the Hashimpura massacre as murder in custody. The court said – it was a target killing of minorities. It was a long and difficult battle for the victims. Uttar Pradesh’s CB-CID had held 66 PAC jawans guilty in its report. ——————————————————– Read these news too… No money to build a new mosque; Trust said – People have now forgotten the mosque On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court gave its verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute. The Hindu and Muslim sides got land to build their respective religious places. Elections were fought in the name of ‘Ram Mandir’. The temple was built and the whole world saw its grand inauguration, but the foundation of the mosque has not even been dug yet. Read full news… Everyone saw the Babri demolition but no one was punished, 32 years have passed It was 3 December, 1992, around 4:30 in the evening. Some journalists reached the stage built near the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. There was a tubewell installed there. Karsevaks were digging a pit to lay a pipeline. Water had to be taken to the place where the Kar Seva was to be held. While the Supreme Court had put a stay. Read full news…
