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High court commutes Ariz Khan’s death penalty for Batla House shootout to life
A shootout broke out at Batla House after Inspector MC Sharma reached the area on a tip that Indian Mujahideen terrorists behind the serial blasts were hiding in a flat
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Thursday commuted the death sentence to terror group Indian Mujahideen operative Ariz Khan to life imprisonment in the 2008 Batla House encounter case in which decorated Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma lost his life.
A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Amit Sharma upheld Ariz Khan’s conviction under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act but didn’t confirm the death penalty. “In view of the ongoing discussion, judgement of conviction is upheld. Sentence on death imposed by the trial court is, however, not confirmed. The order dated March 15 (2021) is modified to that extent. The appeal is allowed in part,” the court said.
The high court’s verdict came on an appeal by Ariz Khan and a reference for confirmation of the death sentence awarded by the trial court to Khan.
The shootout took place six days after five serial blasts occurred in Delhi on September 13, 2008 in which at least 30 people were killed and over 100 injured. Inspector Sharma of the special cell had got a specific tip-off about the Indian Mujahideen terrorists involved in the blasts hiding in a flat in Batla House, Jamia Nagar. Sharma with his raiding team of officers reached the spot where a shootout broke out. While Sharma and other police officials sustained injuries, two terrorists — Mohammad Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sajid — were killed. Sharma succumbed to his injuries later.
Ariz Khan and Shahzad Ahmad managed to flee but were later nabbed. While Ahmad, arrested on January 1, 2010, was sentenced to life in prison in July 2013, Khan was arrested in 2018 from the Indo-Nepal border and convicted in March 2021.
Additional sessions judge Sandeep Yadav, who handed out the death penalty to the 37-year-old Khan, also known as Junaid, said in the March 2021 verdict: “Protection of society and deterring criminals is an avowed object of law and this is required to be achieved by imprisonment of appropriate sentence. The most appropriate sentence for a convict like Ariz Khan will be the death penalty. Interest of justice will be met if the convict is awarded the death penalty”.
