The Delhi High Court Thursday commuted to life imprisonment the death penalty awarded to Ariz Khan by the trial court in the Batla House shootout case, in which Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma of the Delhi Police Special Cell was killed in 2008. The HC, however, upheld the March 8, 2021 judgment of the trial court convicting him of various IPC offences including sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant in the discharge of his duty), and sections of the Arms Act among others. The court partly allowed Khan’s appeal against the judgment of conviction and order on sentence awarding him death penalty. The bench was also hearing the reference for confirmation, sent by the trial court, of the death sentence. As part of the procedure, when a trial court sentences a person to death, the judgment is to be examined by the HC to confirm the death penalty. A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma observed that the “shoot out which took place at Batla House was neither pre-planned nor pre-meditated”. The bench said that it was the prosecution’s case that a raid was conducted to apprehend the suspect, Atif Ameen alias Basir and the police party reached the flat and was subsequently fired upon. The court noted that the prosecution had no prior information about Khan as he was neither a suspect nor a person being investigated at that stage, adding that he had not been convicted in any pending cases against him. The HC had while upholding the conviction order, said that testimony of the eye-witnesses and other corroborating material establish Khan’s presence at the place of the incident and the “factum of his firing at the raiding party while fleeing from the spot”. The bench, however, said that “there is nothing on record to attribute the fatal shot responsible for the death of late Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma to any particular accused. At this stage, it is pertinent to note that this Court is conscious of the fact that during the incident, the country lost a decorated police officer who sacrificed his life in the line of duty. His contribution will never be forgotten by an eternally grateful nation. However, the circumstances of the present case, as discussed hereinbefore, are not sufficient for it to fall under the category of a 'rarest of rare' case”. On the issue of Khan’s reformation, the bench said that it had called for a psychological assessment report on Khan, adding it “does not reflect” that he is incapable of reformation. His psychological assessment report received from the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, the bench noted, reflects that Khan has “a balanced personality, without any propensity for psychological or emotional disorder”. The bench stated: “In view of the principles discussed hereinabove and 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'. “Accordingly, this Court is of the considered view that the sentence of rigorous imprisonment for life would be an appropriate sentence,” the bench said. The bench also awarded sentences on other offences for which Khan was convicted and said that the same will “run concurrently”. Seeking the death penalty, the prosecution had argued that Khan had been convicted for firing at police which resulted in the death of Sharma and thus, he had caused the death of a police officer during the course of his duty. The prosecution said that since Khan had absconded, it showed that he had no remorse for his actions and can’t be reformed. Khan’s counsel argued that it was not clear from the prosecution’s case as to who fired the fatal shot resulting in Sharma’s death, adding there was no evidence to conclude that the fatal shot was fired by Khan.
