Delhi High Court Refused To Confirm Death Penalty Awarded To Ariz Khan, Upholds Conviction; Batla House Encounter

The Delhi High Court in the case State v. Ariz Khan observed and has refused to confirm the death penalty awarded to Ariz Khan, who was being convicted by the trial court in the 2008 Batla house encounter case in which Delhi Police’s inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was killed.
The Division bench comprising of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma in the case observed and has upheld the trial court order convicting Khan in the case.
The court in the case stated that the sentence of death penalty imposed by the trial court is not confirmed.
The court disposed of the reference for confirmation of death sentence awarded to Ariz Khan.
Therefore, the appeal of Khan was partly allowed agai9isnt the conviction of him and the order of sentence. Thus, the detailed order is awaited. The trial court in the case observed and has convicted Ariz and awarded him death penalty wherein stating that it being the fit case falling in the ‘rarest of the rare’ category deserving the maximum sentence under the law.
However, the court convicted for the offence as stated under section 186, section 333, section 353, section 302, section 307, section 174A , 34 of Indian Penal Code and Section 27 of the Arms Act.
It has also been observed by the trial court that there was no chance of Ariz’s reformation and that the abhorrent and brutal act of firing on the policemen without any provocation showed that he was not only a threat to the society but also was an enemy of the State.
About the Batla House Encounter
The two Indian Mujahideen terrorists namely Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid were killed during the encounter on September 19, 2008. It has also been claimed in the said encounter that the Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma who succumbed to the bullet injuries sustained in the gunfight. The Delhi Police’s Special Cell team reached flat no. 108 of L-18 Batla House headed by Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma who was later shot by one of the accused persons on receiving the tip.
Further, he was the arrested by the Delhi Police in 2018 from Uttarakhand’s Banbasa bordering Nepal. According to the Police, Ariz had acquired a Nepali citizenship card and passport under the fake identity of being one ‘Mohammad Salim’.