Delhi HC Reserves Verdict on Death Penalty for Ariz Khan in Batla House Case
On Friday, the Delhi High Court held back its judgment concerning the confirmation of the death sentence meted out to Ariz Khan. Khan had been previously convicted by a trial court due to his involvement in the 2008 Batla House encounter, which led to the unfortunate demise of Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The division bench, consisting of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma, convened to hear the case. Advocate MS Khan represented Ariz, while Special Public Prosecutor Rajesh Mahajan stood for the Delhi Police. After hearing the arguments, the bench declared,
“Arguments have been heard. Judgement reserved.”
In March 2021, Ariz was found guilty by the trial court, which subsequently awarded him the death penalty. The court noted that this was a case that fell into the “rarest of the rare” category, thus deserving the utmost punishment under the law. The trial court had observed,
“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.”
Challenging this conviction and sentence, Ariz approached the High Court in July 2021. The court, in turn, received a reference to confirm the death sentence. Both these pleas are now under consideration.
Background of the Batla House Encounter: On September 19, 2008, the Batla House encounter resulted in the deaths of two Indian Mujahideen terrorists, Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid. The same incident also tragically took the life of Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma. Acting on a tip-off, a team from Delhi Police’s Special Cell, spearheaded by Inspector Sharma, reached flat no. 108 of L-18 Batla House. However, during the encounter, Ariz managed to flee the scene and was later declared a proclaimed offender.
His run ended in 2018 when the Delhi Police arrested him at Uttarakhand’s Banbasa border, adjacent to Nepal. Investigations revealed that Ariz had acquired a Nepali citizenship card and passport under the pseudonym “Mohammad Salim.”
