Hashimpura Massacre: 31 years later, 16 ex-cops convicted for “targeted killings” of Muslims

The Delhi High Court today convicted sixteen former Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and police personnel, sentencing them to life in the Hashimpura massacre case. This judgment overturned the acquittal by the Trial Court..The accused in the case were sixteen PAC personnel who have now been convicted by the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court on charges of murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and destruction of evidence. The Court has directed the convicts to surrender before November 22..In this judgment delivered by the Bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel, the Hashimpura massacre of 1987 is termed as “targeted killings” of the members of a minority community by state forces in Meerut city..Senior Advocate Rebecca John appeared for the appellant. State of Uttar Pradesh was represented by Public Prosecutor Kaushal Yadav while advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for the National Human Rights Commission..Case Background.In May 1987, over 40 men, all belonging to the Muslim community, were rounded up by the PAC personnel and shot at “in cold blood” by .303 rifles, the judgment noted. Five men survived this massacre and recounted the incident..In 1988, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered a probe into the matter by the Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CB CID). The CB CID indicted over 60 PAC and police personnel in its report submitted in 1994..Two years later, in 1996, a chargesheet was filed by the CB CID against 19 persons. 161 persons were listed as witnesses in the case..The case was subsequently transferred to Delhi in 2002 by the Supreme Court after the families of the victims approached the Apex Court seeking the transfer of the case. A Trial Court in Delhi framed charges of murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and tampering with evidence under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against all the accused. The judgment of the Trial Court was reserved in January 2015..In its judgment in March 2015, 28 years after the massacre had taken place, the Trial Court acquitted the 16 surviving accused persons..Three appeals against this judgment came to be filed before the Delhi High Court – two by the victims and their families and one by the State of Uttar Pradesh. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was allowed to intervene in the case..The High Court allowed additional evidence to be recorded during the pendency of the appeals and placed reliance on the same while delivering its judgment..The Verdict.The High Court reversed the acquittal of the accused persons and held the 16 surviving accused persons guilty of all the charges framed against them. The Court held,.“We hold that this was targeted killing by armed forces of the unarmed, innocent and defenceless members of a particular community.”.The Court also regretted the duration of time that lapsed before justice was done to the victims and their families and termed this as a “miscarriage of justice”..“We are conscious that for the families of those killed, this is perhaps too little, too late. They have had to wait for 31 years for justice. The monetary compensation they have received cannot make up for the lives lost. This case points to the systemic failure that results, not infrequently, in a miscarriage of justice.”.On the question of whether these deaths were custodial deaths, the Court’s response was in the affirmative. It stated that the scope of ‘custody’ goes beyond merely detaining a person or holding a person in a lock-up. The Court observed that even though the victims were not detained in a confined space, their detention was illegal while the personnel acted illegally under the guise of discharging their official duty..“This is sufficient for this Court to conclude that they were kept in unlawful custody by the accused purporting to discharge their official functions when in fact they were clearly acting illegally. The deaths of the victims, in the present case, are custodial deaths.”.Calling out the accused for demonstrating a bias towards the members of a certain community, the Court observed that this was a case of targeted killings..“…all the victims belonged to a minority community. This was a case of a targeted killing revealing an institutional bias within the law enforcement agents in this case..…The present case involved the abduction of 42 to 45 persons belonging to the minority community and killing of 38 of them soon after the incident of riots in which two rifles of the PAC were allegedly taken away by the rioters. It points to the disproportionate reaction by the PAC in targeting the members of the minority community.”.The Court also raised questions about the role of the investigating agencies that “frustrated the cause of justice” by causing delay in the investigation. The victims’ families’ right to know was also noted. The Court pointed out that the families of those victims stayed in the dark not only about what happened to the victims, but also about what steps were being taken to investigate the case..Therefore, the Court set aside the impugned judgment of the Trial Court and held all of the surviving accused guilty under Sections 302, 364, 201 read with 120B of the IPC..Noting the gravity of the crime and the fact that three decades had passed since the crime, the Court handed life sentences to all the convicts which, in this case, “will mean the remainder of the person’s natural life.”.The convicts are directed to surrender on or before November 22..Image Credit: Praveen Jain, Indian Express.Read the Judgment:.Read Written Submissions on behalf of the NHRC:.Read Written Submissions on behalf of Appellants: