The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to two more convicts involved in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case, in which 38 Muslim men were killed by Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel in Uttar Pradesh. This follows the Court’s previous decision on December 6 to grant bail to eight other convicts.
The bench, consisting of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih, considered the plea for bail filed by senior advocates Amit Anand Tiwari and Shadan Farasat, representing convicts Budhi Singh and Basant Ballabh. Both lawyers sought bail on the grounds of parity, noting their clients had been in jail for over six years, similar to other convicts in the case.
In its order, the bench referred to a previous decision and granted bail to the two men. Tiwari had argued that the appellants had been in prison for over six years since the high court’s verdict, with exemplary conduct throughout the trial and appeal process. He further contended that the high court’s reversal of the trial court’s acquittals was based on erroneous grounds.
The Hashimpura massacre occurred on May 22, 1987, when PAC personnel rounded up approximately 50 Muslim men from Hashimpura, Meerut, under the pretext of taking them to a safer place amid communal violence. They were then taken to the outskirts of the city, fatally shot, and their bodies dumped in a canal. Only five survivors remained to recount the horrific incident.
Initially, a trial court in 2015 acquitted 16 PAC personnel, citing insufficient evidence. However, in 2018, the Delhi High Court reversed the acquittals and convicted the accused under charges of murder, kidnapping, and causing the disappearance of evidence. The convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case saw multiple challenges, with appeals pending in the Supreme Court. Among the 19 personnel charged, three, including platoon commander Surender Pal Singh, died during the trial. The chargesheet included 66 PAC personnel, though many remain unnamed in the case’s proceedings.
