Juvenile Justice Board defers hearing of minors convicted in Pehlu Khan lynching case

The Juvenile Justice Board in Rajasthan's Alwar on Saturday delayed the hearing of two minors who were convicted in the Pehlu Khan lynching case of 2017.

The Justice Board, headed by Principal Magistrate Sarita Dhaka delayed the date of hearing to March 12. The development comes a day after Alwar's Juvenile Justice Board convicted the two minors in the lynching case.

Pehlu Khan lynching case

On April 1 in 2017, Pehlu Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana's Nuh, was beaten up by cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on Delhi-Alwar highway. He had succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital two days later. An amateur video of the incident that had also gone viral showed Khan being beaten up by a mob, thrown to the ground and kicked. Three, of the nine people accused of his murder, were minors.

READ | Rajasthan HC Quashes Case Against Pehlu Khan, His Two Sons, And Driver

On October 14, 2019, the Rajasthan government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the acquittal (freeing from the charge of offence) of six accused by a lower court in connection with the lynching of Pehlu Khan.

An SIT was set up to probe and identify lapses and irregularities in the police investigation in the lynching case and had submitted its report to the state government in September last year.

READ | Ashok Gehlot Welcomes HC's Decision To Dismiss FIR Against Pehlu Khan

Court acquits all accused in the case

The Alwar court on August 14, 2019, acquitted all six adults accused in the case, giving them the benefit of doubt. Three other juveniles allegedly involved in the case are still facing an inquiry by a Juvenile Justice Board. The government set up the SIT to identify errors and irregularities in the investigation and fix the responsibility for botched up investigation on individual officers. 

DIG (Special Operation Group) Nitin Deep Ballagan led the special probe team, which also included SP (CID-CB) Sameer Kumar Singh and ASP (Vigilance) Sameer Dubey.

READ | Pehlu Khan Lynching: Gehlot Govt Moves HC Against Acquittal Of Accused

READ | Govt School Teacher, Two Others Held For Kidnap & Rape Of Minor In Rajasthan's Alwar