A Delhi court on Monday awarded the death penalty to the 2008 Batla House encounter case convict Ariz Khan calling it a ‘rarest of the rare’ case. Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav also slapped a fine of Rs 11 lakh against the convict and directed that, out of the amount, Rs 10 lakh is to be released as compensation for the family of the deceased, Mohan Chand Sharma.
Earlier on Monday, representing the Delhi Police, Public Prosecutor AT Ansari told the judge that the case was a gruesome murder of a law enforcement officer and defender of justice while discharging his duty and therefore a serious exercise is required to be undertaken in this case for determining the quantum of sentence. Ansari said that exemplary punishment in the case is required and urged the Delhi court to award the death sentence to convict Ariz Khan, a convict in the 2008 Batla House encounter case.
Defence counsel MS Khan sought leniency on the ground of the convict’s young age and parity with others convicted in the matter earlier.
The prosecutor told the court that the convict was involved in several blast cases that occurred in Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Uttar Pradesh in which several innocent citizens were killed and there is a complete lack of remorse on the part of the convict, “which further completely rules out any kind of possibility of reformation and correction of the convict”.
“This is again one of the aggravating circumstances against a convict calling for the death penalty and forecloses the option of lesser punishment,” the prosecutor said.
He further said that the collective conscience of society was shocked after the incident. It also instilled fear in the mind of the common man because if a police officer on lawful duty is not safe, what would happen to him, Ansari added.
Ansari also said that Inspector Sharma of the Special Cell was martyred during the Batla House encounter.
The court said, “No amount of compensation can alleviate the agony, pain and trauma of the family members of the victim, resulting from the crime committing in this case. However, monetary compensation would provide some solace and would apply balm to the wound of family members of the victim.”
The court noted that the Investigating Officer, after conducting an inquiry, has filed the report in terms of an order dated March 8, 2021 and, as per the report, the mother of the convict has agricultural lands in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district.
The report also said that the family of the deceased inspector is still living under stress. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma is survived by his wife, two children and parents.
The court made recommendations to Delhi State Legal Service Authority for awarding adequate and proper compensation to the family members of the deceased and stated, “Legal heirs/dependents of deceased Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma who displayed exemplary courage and valour during the shootout and laid down his life fighting for the security of society and nation deserve to be suitably compensated. At the conclusion of the trial, the victim or dependents of the victim should not be lost sight of. In the emerging trend of criminal jurisprudence rights and interests of the victim and the family of the victim needs to be protected and upheld.”
It further noted that the family of the victim has suffered mental trauma as the aged parents of the deceased have gone through a severe mental setback and the education of both children of the victim has suffered adversely because of the incident.
The police had earlier claimed that Ariz Khan was present at Batla House, along with four others, and had managed to give the police a slip during the encounter on September 19, 2008, in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, in which two Indian Mujahideen terrorists, Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sajid, were killed and two other suspects, Mohammad Saif and Zeeshan were arrested.
The incident took place a week after five serial blasts had hit Delhi on September 13, 2008, in which at least 30 people were killed and over 100 injured.
A trial court in July 2013 had sentenced IM terrorist Shahzad Ahmed to life imprisonment in connection with the Batla House encounter case. His appeal against the trial court’s verdict is pending in the high court.
