The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear a bail plea filed by Basant Vallabh, a convict in the Hashimpura massacre case, who sought temporary release to repair his dilapidated house.
A Bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Justice Augustine George Masih rejected the plea, stating that such a reason was insufficient for bail. “What kind of ground is this?” Justice Oka asked, expressing the court’s displeasure.
Following the court’s remarks, Vallabh withdrew his plea. The bail request was part of a pending criminal appeal against a 2018 Delhi High Court judgment that convicted 16 former Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and police personnel, sentencing them to life imprisonment for their involvement in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre. The High Court’s ruling had overturned an earlier acquittal by the trial court.
The massacre, which occurred in May 1987, involved the rounding up of over 40 Muslim men by PAC personnel, who then shot them “in cold blood.” Only five men survived to recount the horrific event.
In 1988, the Uttar Pradesh government launched an investigation, assigning it to the Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CB CID). The CB CID’s 1994 report implicated over 60 PAC and police personnel. In 1996, a chargesheet was filed against 19 individuals.
The case was transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court in 2002 following a request from the victims’ families. In 2015, the trial court acquitted the 16 surviving accused, but appeals filed by the victims, their families, and the State of Uttar Pradesh led to the Delhi High Court’s reversal of the acquittal and conviction of the accused. The appeal against the High Court’s verdict is still pending before the Supreme Court.
