The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to two former members of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), including an 82-year-old, whose case was quashed by the Hashimpura murder trial court and quashed by the Delhi High Court.
A bench of Justices AS Oka and AG Masih noted that they spent six years in jail after the high court overturned their acquittal in 2018. On December 6, the Supreme Court granted bail to 8 prisoners in the case, all of whom were former members. of the PAC.
According to the prosecution case, communal riots took place in Meerut district in May 1987. As a result, police, army and army personnel were deployed in Hashimpura. sleep of riot control and safety. This included ‘C-Company’ of the PAC’s 41st Battalion. On May 21, 1987, the brother of the Army Major was killed sleep near Hashimpura and two guns of PAC personnel were looted by some anti-social elements.
On May 22, PAC operatives allegedly rounded up 42-45 Muslim men and took them with them in a truck. They were shot later and the bodies were dumped in the Gang Nahar river and the Hindon canal. Some of those who were shot managed to survive. Of the 38 killed, only 11 bodies were later identified by relatives. The remaining bodies were not found.
The case was transferred to Delhi
The investigation has been handed over to the Crime Branch, Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), Uttar Pradesh. The CB-CID filed chargesheets before the Ghaziabad criminal court in 1996. Eighteen PAC officials were indicted as suspects in the original charge sheet. The 19th defendant appeared in court in the amendment case. Under Supreme Court orders, passed in 2002 and 2007, the trial was transferred to Delhi.
During the trial, three suspects died. The remaining 16 were released by the court.
On appeal, the high court allowed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to intervene and on its appeal, allowed additional evidence to be recorded by the trial court, while the appeal was pending.
The high court then reversed the acquittal and charged the defendant with conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and causing the disappearance of evidence in the case. In reaching its conclusion, it again relied on additional written evidence. Those convicted were sentenced to life in prison.
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