2007 CRPF Camp Attack Case : Supreme Court To Hear UP Govt's Appeal Against Acquittal Of 4 Death Row Convicts

The Supreme Court is set to consider Uttar Pradesh government's challenge to the acquittal of 4 death row convicts in the 2007 CRPF camp terror attack case. Eight personnel had lost their lives in the said attack.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta recently granted leave in the four Special Leave Petitions filed by the State in the matter.By the impugned judgment, the Allahabad High Court had set aside the 2019 death sentence of four men - Mohd Sharif, Imran Shahjad, Mohd Farooq and Sabauddin. The Court had also set aside the life term of another accused-Jang Bahadur Khan @ Baba convicted under Section 302 IPC.The incident took place on the night of December 31, 2007, when the first informants on the ground heard of incessant firing taking place near the CRPF Group Centre Gate No.1. While the 4 men were convicted for offences under Sections 302 (murder) and 149 (unlawful assembly) and sentenced to death, they along with accused Jang Bahadur Khan were also convicted under Sections 16 (punishment for committing a terrorist act) and 20 (Punishment for being member of terrorist gang or organization) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sentenced to life imprisonment.Questioning the manner of investigation, the High Court observed in its judgment,"...this case would have met a different result had the investigation and the prosecution been conducted by a more trained police. When the eyewitnesses were not knowing the accused persons from before and when the incident had occurred in the darkness of the night then it was imperative for the investigating agencies to have kept the arrested persons incognito...the prosecution should have, in the circumstances narrated above, prayed for Test Identification Parade. When the FIR and the statements under section 161 Cr.P.C. were silent with regard to the recognition of the appellants by facial expression or by name then it was imperative that the accused ought to have been kept BAPARDA (unveiled/uncovered) and they should have been made to get recognized by the method of Test Identification Parade alone."It also noted that when the case pertained to circumstantial evidence, the finger prints which were allegedly lifted from the glass-panes of the CRPF Camp on 1.1.2008, ought to have been "kept in extreme safe custody".It further said that the "empty cartridges, firearms etc. which were recovered from the place of incident" ought to have been kept in the police Malkhana (storage room in police station where evidence is kept).The Court also observed that the bullets which were recovered from the CRPF camp by the CRPF personnel did not match the test bullets and thus possibility of tampering could not be ruled out. It further said that the offense under UAPA was not established.As such, the accused were acquitted of the IPC offences of murder, unlawful assembly, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant to deter from their duty and waging, attempting to wage, or abetting the waging of war against the Government of India; provisions of UAPA, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Arms Act. However, since firearms, hand grenades, magazines and cartridges etc. were found from the accused persons and they were in possession of those prohibited articles without the fulfilment of the requirements of Arms Act, the court found them "guilty of having committed offence under section 25(1-A) of the Arms Act".Case Title: STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH VERSUS MOHD. SHARIF @ SUHAIL @ SAZID @ ANWAR @ ALI ETC. ETC., SLP(Crl.) No(s).1206-1209/2026Click here to read the order

2007 CRPF Camp Attack Case : Supreme Court To Hear UP Govt's Appeal Against Acquittal Of 4 Death Row Convicts

Debby Jain

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