Supreme Court Grants Bail To UP Police Officers Convicted For Hashimpura Massacre

The Supreme Court today granted bail to the members of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel who were convicted by the Delhi High Court in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case.A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice AG Masih passed the order considering that the convicts have been undergoing imprisonment for over six years since November 2018. The bench directed that the convicts be produced before the Trial Court within a week for the execution of bail bonds.Senior Advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for the convicts, submitted that the incidnet was of 1987 and that the Delhi High Court in October 2018 erroneously reversed their acquittals. The Supreme Court today allowed the applications filed by ten convicts - Sami Ullah, Niranjan Lal, Mahesh Prasad, and Jaipal Singh. Suresh Chand Sharma, Ram Dhyan, Hambir Singh, Kunwar Pal Singh, Budha Singh, and Mohkam SinghBackground:Nearly 42 to 45 persons belonging to the Muslim community were allegedly abducted from Hashimpura in Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh by the armed personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) on May 22, 1987, in the wake of communal riots in Meerut. Of these, around 35 were alleged to have been subsequently killed by the PAC on that very date in the late hours and their bodies were thrown in a canal.In 2015, a trial court acquitted all the accused. In October 2018, a High Court bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel reversed the acquittal and sentenced 16 persons to life imprisonment. The Court termed the massacre "targeted killing" of unarmed and defenceless people by the police.Criminal appeals filed against the order of the Delhi High Court are currently pending before the Supreme Court.Case : Sami Ullah and others v. Zulfikar Nasir and others Crl.A. No. 1547-1549/2018 and connected cases

Supreme Court Grants Bail To UP Police Officers Convicted For Hashimpura Massacre

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