New Delhi: Rifles allegedly used by a battalion of the UP Police to murder 42 Muslims in the infamous Hashimpura massacre have been distributed among the personnel of the same battalion.
The trial judge in the case was aghast when he was told that the 18 rifles allegedly used by Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawans in Meerut’s Mohalla Hashimpura in 1987 have been redistributed among the personnel of the force.
The shifting of the case property, a vital evidence, from the custody of the investigating agency has put a question mark on the fate of the 19-year-old case, which was transferred to Delhi from Ghaziabad on the Supreme Court’s order in 2002.
Additional Sessions Judge N P Kaushik, who sought to see the case property on the second day of the trial on July 22, was shocked to know that the rifles had been redistributed among the jawans of PAC’s 41-B Vahini Battalion.
The accused also belonged to the same battalion. The court has asked Special Public Prosecutor S Adhlakha and Additional SP of CB-CID, Meerut to produce the rifles in court on July 31, the next date of hearing.
It also sought to know who gave the order to return the weapons to PAC. Legal experts are divided on the issue calling it either a "destruction of evidence" or "an unintentional foolish act" on the part of the investigating agency.
"This is destruction of evidence and is punishable under the law," senior lawyer P N Lekhi said. "The case property has to be kept secure in the custody of the Investigating Officer (IO) of the appropriate police station and is not to be used for any other purpose until the case is finally over," Lekhi added.
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Taking a different stance, noted trial lawyer Pandit R K Naseem, who defended accused Santosh Singh in the sensational Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case, said "The CB-CID may not have done this intending to shield the culprits. It may have been an unintentional and foolish act on their part".
Senior Supreme Court lawyer K T S Tulsi, however, said the "physical presence" of the case property is not essential
for the trial.
"Once the identity of the crime weapon is established by scientific study, in this case via forensic test by CFSL, the anachronistic practice of retaining the weapon(s) is pointless. This does not amount to destruction of evidence," he said.
But Lekhi believes that shifting of the rifles would seriously harm the very foundation of the case. "Without the rifles, the prosecution will not have anything to corroborate the conclusions contained in the
report given by the CFSL," he added.
"This (absence of the rifles) will affect the merits of the case and the results would be in favour of the accused as the prosecution will be deprived of the opportunity to
cross-examine them about the weapons," Naseem agreed.
The rifles had been sent to CFSL, Hyderabad for forensic analysis and the report has already come.
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