Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct 12: The death sentence given to Ariz Khan by a trial court in the 2008 Batla House encounter case was commuted on Thursday by the Delhi High Court. The judge commuted his sentence to life in prison.
The High Court upheld the verdict of the trial court, which found Ariz Khan guilty of violating the Arms Act and being involved in the killing of Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma during the Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi.
After the State’s and the convict’s attorneys finished presenting their arguments in August, the High Court bench reserved its decision on the matter.
The encounter between police and terrorists in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi on September 19, 2008 resulted in the death of Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell.
In an operation occurring shortly after five coordinated bomb blasts shook the capital city, claiming the lives of 39 individuals and injuring 159, two terrorists were also eliminated in the encounter.
Sharma had raided the location in an effort to find the terrorists behind the explosions.
On March 8, 2021, the trial court found Ariz Khan guilty after finding that it was adequately proven that he and his companions killed the police officer and shot him.
Khan was given the death penalty and fined Rs. 11 lakh on March 15, 2021, with instructions that Rs. 10 lakh should be given to Sharma’s family members right away.
The High Court subsequently received a reference to confirm Khan’s death sentence.
When a trial court convicts someone to death, the high court reviews the decision by hearing arguments in support of the death penalty.
The trial court had deemed Khan’s unprovoked shooting of a police party as “abhorrent and brutal” in its ruling and stated that this alone demonstrated that he was not just a danger to society but also an enemy of the State.
