New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to eight convicts in the 1987 Hashimpura case, in which 38 persons were massacred by the Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel.
The matter came up before a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih. Senior advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, represented four convicts, Sami Ullah, Niranjan Lal, Mahesh Prasad, and Jaipal Singh, before the bench and the remaining convicts were represented by a separate counsel.
Tiwari contended that his clients were suffering prolonged incarceration after the Delhi High Court reversed their acquittal by the trial court in the case and the reversal of the trial court's well-reasoned acquittal by the high court was based on erroneous grounds.
Tiwari argued the appellants had been in jail for over six years since the high court verdict and stressed that his clients were previously acquitted by the trial court. Tiwari said that their conduct during the trial and the appeal process was exemplary.
After hearing submissions, the apex court granted bail to eight convicts. The Hashimpura massacre occurred on May 22, 1987 when Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel, belonging to the 41st Battalion's "C-Company", allegedly rounded up approximately 50 Muslim men from Hashimpura in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, during communal tensions.
The victims were taken to the city outskirts on the pretext of being ferried to a safer place due to communal riots. They were fatally shot there, and their bodies were dumped in a canal.
