Ariz Khan given death in Batla encounter case
The court said that nature of offence and manner of committing the crime aroused extreme indignation to society. It stressed that the offence was not an ordinary act but a crime against the State.
A Delhi court on Monday handed the death penalty to alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Ariz Khan, accused of killing police officer Mohan Chand Sharma during the Batla House encounter of 2008, and said that his “despicable act has forfeited his right to live”.
Additional sessions judge Sandeep Yadav concluded “it is a rarest of the rare case where convict deserves maximum sentence provided under the law”.
The court said that nature of offence and manner of committing the crime aroused extreme indignation to society. It stressed that the offence was not an ordinary act but a crime against the State, and that Khan, while committing the offence, acted like a dreaded and well-trained terrorist who did not deserve any leniency.
“[The] convict on account of his despicable act has forfeited his right to live. After balancing mitigating circumstances against aggravating circumstances, it is concluded that it a rarest of the rare case where convict deserves maximum sentence provided under the law,” the court said in its order
“It is the level of magnitude, decree of brutality, attitude and mindset of wrong doer behind the crime along with other factors which makes it a rarest of the rare case. Protection of society and deterring criminal is a vowed object of law and this is required to be achieved by imprisonment of appropriate sentence. The most appropriate sentence for convict like Ariz Khan @ Junaid @ Anna @ Salim will be death penalty.…,” it added.
It imposed a fine of ₹11 lakh on Khan, while directing that ₹10 lakh be immediately released to the family of Special Cell officer Sharma, a celebrated officer who succumbed to injuries following the shoot-out on September 19, 2008. It also asked the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to look at granting more compensation to the family.
The encounter took place days after serial blasts ripped through the Capital and killed at least 30 people. Acting on anti-terror igence, police stormed into a house in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar looking for the alleged perpetrators. A bloody gunbattle followed in which two of Sharma’s colleagues were injured and two terrorists killed.
But the encounter quickly became politicised with activists and some politicians alleging that the people killed were not terrorists but university students. Police also detained several residents, fuelling local discontent. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said he believed the encounter was fake and in 2012, party leader Salman Khurshid said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi cried after she saw images of the encounter. Teachers and students of Jamia Millia Islamia organised protests and approached the Delhi high court, demanding a judicial probe. The National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) later conducted an inquiry on the direction of the Delhi high court and cleared Delhi Police.
The court said that Khan indulged in the “abhorrent and brutal act” of firing on a police party without any provocation, and this showed he was “not only a threat to society but is also an enemy of the State”. It noted that Khan was also involved in blast cases in Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Uttar Pradesh in which hundreds of innocent people were killed and injured, and that this demonstrated he “continues to be a threat to the society and the nation”.
On March 8, the court convicted Khan, 35, saying that he and his associates “intentionally” and “knowingly” committed murder of inspector Sharma. It held Khan guilty of murder, attempt to murder, obstructing public servant on duty, causing grievous hurt and non-appearance despite being declared as a proclaimed offender (PO). Khan was pronounced a PO in 2009 and arrested by the police in 2018 after being on the run for nearly a decade.
The Batla House shoot-out took place days after five serial blasts in Delhi on September 13, 2008. Inspector Sharma of Special Cell got a tip-off about terrorists involved in the blasts hiding at flat No. 108, L-18, Batla House, Jamia Nagar. When Sharma with his raiding team reached the spot, a shoot-out broke out between the police and the alleged terrorists. Two of them — Mohammad Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sajid — were killed during the encounter, while Sharma was shot on his shoulder and abdomen. He succumbed to his injuries on February 19, 2008. Two of the terror suspects, Ariz Khan and Shahzad Ahmadm, managed to flee the spot . Ahmad was arrested on Jan 1, 2010, and handed a life sentenced in July 2013, Khan was arrested on February 14, 2018.
Maya Sharma, wife of MC Sharma, said she wanted to thank the judiciary. “We have got a huge relief after 13 years. Finally, justice has been delivered after our 13 year-long struggle. The court has done justice to us. Until now, we were in a position of wait and watch,” she told PTI.
The judge said that there was no evidence on record that Khan during investigation or trial showed any signs of reformation or repentance. “The convict eluded investigating agencies for almost ten years despite coercive process against him...There is no evidence on record that convict during investigation or trial showed any signs of...repentance,” the court said.
Advocate MS Khan, Khan’s counsel, said that he would appeal against the judgment in a higher court. He said that it still remains a mystery as to whose bullet hit Sharma, and it is more surprising that on this basis, the court awarded the death sentence. He also contended that the judgment was based on assumptions.
The BJP welcomed the verdict. “The people of the country today expect an apology from leaders of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party who all along called Batla House encounter a fake encounter, insulting the martyrdom of policemen killed in the encounter,” Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said in a statement.
Asked for his reaction on the verdict, Congress’s Digvijaya Singh said, “What do I say on that? Judiciary did its work.”
Retired IPS officer, Karnal Singh, who was the JCP, special cell, Delhi Police at the time of the encounter, said the vedict “vindicates the stand of the special cell”. “(This) shows that the crime branch did an excellent job. The special cell also did an outstanding job in investigating the serial blast case and apprehending the IM terrorists. Of course, during the process, we lost our best inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who had done many operations against the terrorists. It was a great loss to the Delhi Police.” On questions raised on the shootout, he said, “It’s unfortunate that we do not have a national consensus on terrorism. People start speaking against the police officers without even verifying the facts...That was unfortunate.”
Welcoming the verdict, former IPS officer Prakash Singh said, “I think it’s a matter of satisfaction because there was so much of controversy for political reasons. The lesson...is that people should not jump to conclusions and suspect the police version...It’s a good ending and a right message should go to the people who think that they can fire at policemen.”
