All 16 accused Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case were acquitted of all charges by a Delhi court on Saturday.
The 16 personnel had been charged with killing 42 Muslims who were alleged to have been picked up by the PAC from the Hashimpura mohalla in Meerut, during the riots and later shot.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Jindal, cited a lack of evidence, particularly with regards to the identity of the suspects as the reason for the acquittal.
All accused acquitted. I give them benefit of doubt for want of evidence especially regarding their identity.
-Sanjay Jindal, Additional Sessions Judge
The court has referred the case to the Delhi State Legal Services Authority for rehabilitation of the victims.
The court fixed its verdict for Saturday, March 21 after seeking some clarifications from the counsel for the prosecution, accused and victims.
The Prosecution’s Version
The Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel had come to Hashimpura on May 22, 1987, and picked up about 50 Muslims as a congregation of 500 had gathered outside a mosque there.
The victims were shot by the accused personnel and their bodies thrown into a canal. The prosecution also said that the 42 persons were declared to have perished in the massacre.
The charge sheet was filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Ghaziabad, in 1996.
19 people were named as accused and charges for offences of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy were framed against 17 of them by the court in 2006. This happened after the case was transferred to Delhi on a Supreme Court direction in September 2002.
Three of the 19 originally accused had died since the 1996 charge sheet was filed.
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