The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to eight of the 16 former members of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) who were acquitted by the trial court in the Hashimpura murder case, which was overturned by the Delhi High Court.
A bench of Justices AS Oka and AG Masih noted their statement that they were serving long jail terms after the High Court quashed their acquittal in 2018.
Senior advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for them, pointed out that the March 23, 2015 verdict of the trial court acquitting them was well reasoned and the reasoning of the High Court was wrong. He also sought to highlight that they had shown exemplary conduct during the trial and appeal.
According to the prosecution’s case, communal riots took place in Meerut district in 1987. As a result, police, paramilitary and military forces were deployed in Hashimpura Mohalla for riot control and security. It consisted of ‘C-Company’ of the 41st Battalion of the PAC. On May 21, 1987, an army major’s brother was killed in a mohalla near Hashimpura and two rifles of the PAC were looted by some anti-social elements.
On the evening of 22 May, PAC personnel reportedly rounded up around 42-45 Muslim men and took them to a truck. They were later shot dead and their bodies thrown into the Ganges Canal and the Hindon Canal. Some of those shot survived. Only 11 of the 38 killed were identified by their relatives. The rest of the bodies have not been found.
The investigation into the incident was handed over to the Crime Branch, Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), Uttar Pradesh.
The CB-CID filed a charge sheet in 1996 in the Criminal Court of Ghaziabad. In the first charge sheet, 18 officers of the PAC were named as accused. The 19th accused has been produced in the supplementary charge sheet. Under Supreme Court orders passed in 2002 and 2007, the hearing of the cases was shifted to Delhi.
Three accused died during the trial. The remaining 16 accused were acquitted by the court.
On appeal, the High Court allowed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to intervene and, on his plea, allowed additional evidence to be recorded by the trial court, while the appeals were kept pending.
The High Court overturned the acquittal and found the accused guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and loss of evidence of the crime. In reaching its conclusion, it also relied on additional evidence on record. The convict has been sentenced to life imprisonment.