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Synopsis

The Supreme Court of India today granted bail to two more convicts in a case concerning the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case wherein 38 people were killed by the Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and MG Masih, while grating bail has observed, "The co-accused have been enlarged on bail by order dated 6/12 on the grounds stated therein. Applicants have undergone incarceration for almost 6 years. Therefore, applicants are entitled to bail. For that purpose, the applicants shall be produced before the trial court and it shall enlarge them on bail on appropriate conditions till the final disposal".

On December 6, the Supreme Court had granted bail to eight convicts from the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and SG Masih was told that the appeal filed by the convicts against their conviction was pending before the apex court for the last six years and had been listed several times but never been heard.

Senior Advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for the convicts had further submitted that they were suffering prolonged incarceration after the High Court had reversed their acquittal by the trial court in the case.

Top Court was further told that the reversal of the trial court's well-reasoned acquittal by the high court was based on erroneous grounds.

The Hashimpura massacre occurred on May 22, 1987, when Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel, 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.

In 2015, a trial court acquitted all the accused. Later 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.

Case Title: Sami Ullah v Zulfikar Nasir