NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday commuted the death penalty of Ariz Khan, a convict in the 2008 Batla House encounter, observing the case does not fall under the “rarest of rare” category and that rigorous imprisonment for life will be an appropriate sentence.
Khan has been awarded the death penalty by a trial court for the murder of Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma during an encounter, which was allegedly linked to the Indian Mujahideen. A division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Amit Sharma said, “The sentence of death imposed on the appellant by the trial court is not confirmed.
The order on sentence... is modified.” In his appeal, Khan argued that the trial court verdict had factual and legal infirmities. The participation of the appellant in the shootout and his escape from the place of the incident have not been proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt, Khan said.
The High Court also noted that the pending cases cited by the prosecution are still at the trial stage and the appellant has not been convicted in any case. “In the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the opinion that the present case does not fall under the category of a ‘rarest of rare case’.
The court is of considered view that the sentence of rigorous imprisonment for life would be an appropriate sentence,” the order read. The HC observed that the appellant was not capable of paying the fine totalling Rs 11 lakh and reduced it to one-third.
Following the trail of investigation into the serial blasts that rocked Delhi in September 2008 in which 30 people were killed, the Special Cell of Delhi Police carried out an operation to arrest terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen who were hiding in a flat at Batla House area of Jamia Nagar, Okhla.
When cops reached Batla House on September 19, 2008 morning, they came under heavy fire from terrorists. Two terrorists — Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid — were neutralized, while Sharma died of his injuries. Two others — Shehzad Ahmed and Ariz Khan — managed to escape but were caught.
