PTI | Mar 21, 2015, 09.36 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Twenty-eight years after the Hashimpura massacre, the acquittal of all 16 accused left the kin of the victims and the survivors distraught, while the absolved PAC personnel said it was an end to a long ordeal suffered by them and their families.
The prosecution underscored that though the accused have been acquitted in the case, there was no doubt about the occurrence of the incident in which 42 people from Muslim community were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district in May 1987.
"The court has given benefit of doubt to the accused regarding their identification and not regarding the incident. The fact that the court referred the case to Delhi Legal Service Authority for rehabilitation of the victims shows that the incident is not in doubt. I will give my report to the government. It is for the government to decide the further course of action as to whether the State wants to file an appeal in the matter," special public prosecutor Satish Tamta said.
The families of the victims, who were present in the court at the time of pronouncement of the judgment, expressed their disappointment over the verdict and termed it "unfortunate" and "denial of justice".
Babuddin, one of the survivors and eyewitnesses to the incident, said he could not recognize the PAC personnel in court as they were wearing helmets.
"We are very sad and disappointed as the justice has been denied to us. I could not identify them before the court as they were wearing helmets and also two decades have passed since the incident. Only because of this one mistake, this verdict is passed against us even though all other evidence were against them.
Relatives of a 1987 Hashimpura massacre victim. (TOI photo)
"I will consult my family and then decide the future course of action in this case," he said.
Two other survivors and eye-witnesses — Usman and Mujibur Rehman — also expressed disappointment on the verdict.
The verdict, however, was welcomed by the accused who said they have finally been relieved of the trauma.
"I am satisfied that justice is finally done. We faced the trial for last 28 years. During this period I failed to do anything for my family and children. I was a head constable at the time of the alleged incident and I am going to retire soon and I am still a head constable," 59-year-old Niranjan, one of the persons acquitted on Saturday, said.
Another acquitted accused expressed similar views saying, "We had to face such a long trial. That itself was a punishment despite the fact that I was not even present at the spot at the time of the incident. However, I am happy that the court finally did justice to us."
Advocates Salar M Khan and LD Mual, who appeared for several accused, said none of the eyewitnesses had identified the accused in the court as those involved in the massacre.
According to the prosecution, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel had come to village Hashimpura in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district on May 22, 1987, and picked up about 50 Muslims as a congregation of 500 had gathered outside a mosque there.
A mother holds the photo of her son killed during the Hashimpura massacre. (TOI photo)
The victims were shot by the accused personnel and their bodies thrown into a canal, it had said, adding 42 people were declared to have perished in the massacre.
The chargesheet was filed before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Ghaziabad, in 1996.
19 people were named as accused and charges for offences of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy were framed against 17 of them by the court here in 2006 after the case was transferred to Delhi on a Supreme Court direction in September 2002.
Hashimpura massacre case: Victims oppose Subramanian Swamy's plea for further probe
TNN | Jan 8, 2013, 06.35 AM ISTNEW DELHI: The victims and complainants in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case on Monday opposed the application of Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy seeking further investigation to ascertain the alleged role of finance minister P Chidambaram in the incident.
Rebecca John, counsel for the Hashimpura complainants, told Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Siddhartha who is conducting the trial in the case, that "there is no other motive than politics behind Swamy's plea for further investigation and it would only further delay the trial".
"The court should consider the effect of further investigation on the families of those who were killed in the massacre. They have been waiting for justice for 25 years. Re-investigation would derail the trial and stall the proceedings before the court," she said.
Questioning Swamy's locus to seek further investigation, John contended, "If we could see any other motive than politics, we would have stood behind him (Swamy). But we were the ones who fought for the victims, who went to the apex court and got the case transferred here. Where was he for 25 years?"
Swamy countered the counsel's arguments saying only after he sat on a fast unto death at the Boat Club in August 1987 that an inquiry was ordered. He had also raised the issue in Parliament, he added.
Sixteen PAC personnel are facing trial for allegedly killing 42 persons in Hashimpura district of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. The Supreme Court had transferred the case to Delhi in September 2002 following a petition by families of the massacre victims and survivors.
A sessions court here in July 2006 had framed charges of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with the evidence and conspiracy against all the accused. Three accused PAC personnel have died during trial.
Claiming that the 16 PAC personnel facing trial merely executed the orders of a senior person, Swamy has been seeking a probe into the role of Chidambaram, who was the minister of state for internal security from October 1986 to 1989 at the Centre.
Hashimpura massacre: Rifles given to PAC
PTI | Jul 27, 2006, 10.25 AM ISTNEW DELHI: The 18 rifles used by Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawans to allegedly mow down 42 Muslims of Mohalla Hashimpura at Meerut in 1987 have been redistributed among the personnel of the force, much to the surprise of the trial judge.
The shifting of the case property, a vital evidence, from the custody of the investigating agency has put a question mark on the fate of the 19-year-old case transferred to Delhi from Ghaziabad on the orders of the Supreme Court in 2002.
The rifles had been sent to CFSL, Hyderabad for forensic analysis and the report has already come.
Additional Sessions Judge N P Kaushik, who sought to see the case property on the second day of the trial on July 22, was shocked to know that the rifles had been redistributed among the jawans of 41-B Vahini Battalion of the PAC. Incidentally, the accused also belonged to the same Battalion.
The court has asked Special Public Prosecutor S Adhlakha and Additional SP of CB-CID, Meerut to produce the rifles in court on July 31, the next date of hearing.
It also sought to know who gave the order to return the weapons to PAC.
Legal experts are divided on the issue calling it either a "destruction of evidence" or "an unintentional foolish act" on the part of the investigating agency.
"This is destruction of evidence and is punishable under the law," senior lawyer PN Lekhi said.
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