Again, the SC steps in to ensure substantive justice in this case
Delhi: In the latest developments in the Hapur lynching case, in which a 38-year old cattle trader, Qasim, was killed and 65-year old Samaydeen brutally assaulted, allegedly over cow slaughter charges on June 18, 2018, the Supreme Court (SC) has directed the petitioners to bring the 164 statements of the witnesses to the attention of the concerned Trial Court. Since last August (2018) the entire case has seen a steady movement between the trial court and the Supreme Court; at several points when basic procedure and substantive justice appears to be compromised, the victim survivors have, through their counsel managed to get corrective orders in the Supreme Court.
A press note released by the counsel for the petitioners, Ms.Vrinda Grover, has pointed out erroneous reporting on the case after the hearing in the Supreme Court today. In this press note Ms.Grover states that their application had prayed before the SC to direct the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police to file a supplementary chargesheetand “to bring on record before the Trial Court the 164 statements recorded on 15.05.2019.”
The press note further reads, “While the Supreme Court declined to pass such a direction, it gave the Petitioners liberty to bring the 164 statements to the attention of the concerned Trial Court. The Petitioners shall bring this to the attention of the Trial Court tomorrow.”
Nine months ago, on August 13, 2018, the SC, in a plea filed by the petitioners requesting for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe in the case, had directed that the statements of the survivor and eye witness, Samaydeen, along with the statements of Yaseen and Dinesh Tomar be recorded with the Judicial Magistrate (JM) under Section 164 CrPC. Consequently, the statements were recorded on August 21, 2018.
Thereafter, on September 5, 2018, the SC had ordered that the investigation to be conducted under the direct supervision of the Inspector General (Meerut) Range. During that hearing, the petitioners submitted the footage of the NDTV sting operation, in which the accused confessed to the crime, along with the 164 statements.
In January 2019, Qasim’s brothers, Saleem and Nadeem, pleaded for their statements to be recorded before the JM under Section 164 CrPC. On May 3, 2019 a fresh status report was submitted to the SC by the UP government, represented by solicitor general Tushar Mehta.
Notably, the petitioners found glaring discrepancies in the status report, a copy of which was provided to them. This could have led to an easy acquittal of the accused. However, the trial court framed charges under murder, attempt to murder, rioting, rioting armed with deadly weapon and under Section 149 IPC for sharing a common object to commit these crimes; and for promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, under Section 302/149 IPC, 307/149 IPC, 147 IPC, 148 IPC and 153A IPC.
As per the rejoinder affidavit filed by the state of UP on May 27, 2018, the statements of the deceased’s brothers were recorded before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hapur on May 15, 2019. However, these statements have not yet been placed on record before the Trial court, which shall be done by the petitioners tomorrow.
The order read, “..the order that would be appropriate to be passed, at this stage, would be to permit the petitioners to draw the attention of the learned trial Judge to the aforesaid statements of the brothers of the deceased recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. The petitioners may act accordingly, whereafter appropriate orders will be passed by the learned trial court.”
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