Ariz Khan, convicted in the sensational 2008 Batla House encounter in which decorated Delhi police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma lost his life, was spared the death penalty on Thursday.
The present case does not fall under the category of a ‘rarest of rare case’, the Delhi High Court said, noting that the sentence of rigorous imprisonment for life would be an appropriate sentence for Khan.
A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Amit Sharma upheld a March 2021 judgment of a trial court here convicting Khan of the murder of the police official but declined to confirm the capital punishment.
Reacting to the verdict, slain Delhi police inspector Sharma’s wife expressed shock and said the Delhi High Court order could affect the morale of the police personnel.
Speaking to PTI, Maya Sharma said, “We are totally shocked and surprised. After a years-long legal battle, the lower court had awarded the death penalty to Khan. The court had said it was a ‘rarest of rare’ case. Hence, it was proved that he was a threat to society.”
“Then how can his death penalty be commuted? Don’t you think this will lower the morale of the force, especially those officers who remain on the frontlines in such encounters,” she asked.
The encounter
Six days after five synchronised bomb explosions rocked the capital, killing 39 people and wounding 159, on September 19, 2008, a team of the Special Cell raided a hideout of bomb blasts suspects at Batla House.
Two suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists were killed in the operation and Sharma, an officer of the Delhi police’s Special Cell, succumbed to bullet injuries on the same day. Khan and another alleged IM operative Shehzad Ahmed were also present at the hideout but had managed to escape.
The High Court imposed a total fine of ₹1.15 lakh on Khan for all the offences, noting that he was not capable of paying the amount of fine of ₹11 lakh imposed on him by the trial court.
The Bench noted that Khan, who was aged around 23 at the date of incident, was an occupant along with other persons at a flat at Batla House. Admittedly, the police had no prior information regarding Khan as he was neither a suspect nor a person being investigated at that stage, it said.
“In the present case, we have already held that the testimony of the eyewitnesses and other corroborating material establish the presence of the appellant [Khan] at the place of incident and the factum of his firing at the raiding party while fleeing from the spot,” the court said.
“But at the same time, it is pertinent to note that there is nothing on record to attribute the fatal shot responsible for the death of inspector Mohan Chand Sharma to any particular accused,” the High Court added.
It said the court is conscious of the fact that during the incident, the country lost a decorated police officer who sacrificed his life in the line of duty. “His contribution will never be forgotten by an eternally grateful nation. However, the circumstances of the present case, as discussed hereinbefore, are not sufficient for it to fall under the category of a ‘rarest of rare’ case,” the High Court said.
(With inputs from PTI)
