The Delhi High Court issued notices on Friday to 16 former Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel on an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government against a trial court judgment acquitting them in the infamous 28-year-old Hashimpura massacre case at Meerut.
A sessions court in Delhi acquitted them on March 21, giving them the benefit of the doubt citing insufficient evidence, particularly on the identification of the accused.
3 die during trialOf the 19 accused, three died during the trial.
A Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Justice G.S. Sistani and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, asked the accused to file their reply on July 21.
The PAC personnel arrived at Hashimpura village on May 22, 1987 during communal violence and picked up 50 Muslims and allegedly shot dead 42. The bodies were thrown into a canal.
Though the charge sheet was initially filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ghaziabad in 1996, the case was transferred to Delhi in September 2002 on Supreme Court directions.
Circumstantial evidenceThe case was based on circumstantial evidence as none of the eyewitnesses, who had survived the massacre, was able to identify the accused.
The State government moved the High Court last week.
The High Court recently issued notices to the government and the accused on petitions filed by the survivors of the massacre and the National Human Rights Commission, which sought directions for further investigation into the matter.
