The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to two more convicts in the infamous 1987 Hashimpura massacre case in which 38 Muslim men were primarily kidnapped and then shot dead by Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel in Uttar Pradesh.
This decision comes after the Court granted bail to eight other convicts on December 6.
The bench, comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih, addressed the bail application filed by senior counsels Amit Anand Tiwari and Shadan Farasat for convicts Budhi Singh and Basant Ballabh.
Both retained lawyers applied for bail for their clients alleging that they have been in prison for over six years and that there was no con on their part as other convicts in the suits.
Speaking in its order, the bench relied on a previous judgment and released the two men on bail. Tiwari had argued that “The appellants had remained in prison for over six years since the high court decision yet remained exemplary throughout the trial stage as well as during the appeal process.
He also argued that the high court erred in overturning the trial court’s acquittals on the grounds advanced.
The charge sheet in the case was filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Ghaziabad in 1996. The case was transferred to Delhi in September 2002 on the order of the Supreme Court following a petition by the families of the massacre victims and survivors.
Hashimpura massacre
The Hashimpura massacre occurred on May 22, 1987, when Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel, belonging to the 41st Battalion’s ‘C-Company,’ allegedly rounded up approximately 50 Muslim men from Hashimpura, a locality in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, during communal tensions.
The victims were taken to the outskirts of the city, where they were shot, and their bodies were dumped in a canal.
The incident resulted in the death of 38 persons with only five survivors left to recount the horror.
On Friday, senior advocate Tiwari, representing four of the appellants—Sami Ullah, Niranjan Lal, Mahesh Prasad, and Jaipal Singh—argued that the appellants have been in jail for over six years since the High Court’s judgment.
He highlighted that the appellants were previously acquitted by the trial court and that their conduct during the trial and appeal process had been exemplary.
Furthermore, it was contended that the reversal of the trial court’s well-reasoned acquittal by the High Court was based on erroneous grounds.
The court took note of the submissions and allowed eight pending bail pleas of as many convicts.
