Batla House encounter case: Martyred Inspector's wife expresses disappointment on Delhi HC's verdict

The family of martyred Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma has expressed their displeasure after the Delhi High Court on Thursday commuted the death penalty for the 2008 Batla House encounter case accused Ariz Khan. The family of Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma said that they are disappointed by the reduction in the punishment of Khan, who is accused of killing Inspector Sharma in a shootout. However, the family said that they will challenge the high court’s verdict in the Supreme Court to ensure that justice is served to the martyred cop.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday commuted the death penalty awarded to Ariz Khan by a trial court in the 2008 Batla House encounter case, during which Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was killed by Khan in Delhi’s Batla House area.

Will fight in SC, says Maya Sharma

Talking exclusively to Republic, Maya Sharma, wife of martyred Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma said, “We are disappointed; what can we say if the penalty has been reduced in a case which was held under the ‘rarest of rare’ category.”

“My husband’s sacrifice for the nation was the supreme sacrifice and he did it. Now, his family, which is at the suffering end, seeks justice and justice should be served. The court has always accepted that the accused should be punished, but being soft on him doesn’t satisfy my thoughts. Even when it was accepted that he killed Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma when it was accepted that he is a terrorist, even when he is being considered as a threat to society, why should a soft stance on his punishment be taken,” Sharma asserted.  

She said that her husband was a highly decorated officer, who was awarded with several gallantry awards and this fight is to serve him justice. “After such a long battle in the court, we are feeling as if things are turning to zero. This will sink the morale of the organisation like the Delhi police,” Mohan Chand Sharma’s wife emphasized.  

Maya Sharma further added, ”I am a strong woman, but today, I feel defeated and I think as if I am losing the battle, though we didn’t expect it to lose. But, we have decided to take the fight to the Supreme Court, where we will fight our last battle for justice.”

Earlier, in March 2021, a trial court had held the case under the rarest of rare categories and sentenced a death penalty to the accused Ariz Khan. The judgment was later challenged in the Delhi High Court on behalf of Ariz Khan, who was on Thursday commuted to life imprisonment. In a detailed judgment, the Division Bench of the High Court reversed that finding and held that the case does not fall under the category of a rarest of rare. The bench ruled that a rigorous imprisonment for life would be an appropriate sentence.

Batla House Encounter-2008

In the year 2008, major serial blasts took place at various locations in Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh claiming as many as 165 lives and leaving over 500 injured. Following the shocking incident in the national capital, the Special Cell of the Delhi police launched a massive search operation to get the accused involved in the terror act.

Meanwhile, on a specific input that one of the masterminds of the serial blasts, Ariz Khan, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh is hiding in the Batla House area in Southeast Delhi along with other suspects of Indian Mujahideen (IM). Based on the information, the Special Cell team raided a house in the Batla House area, following which an encounter broke out between the police and the terrorist.

During the encounter, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma lost his life, while two other police personnel were injured. Two suspects of the IM were killed; identified as Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid who were killed in the shootout, while one of their associates, Mohammad Saif surrendered. Ariz Khan along with two other suspects had managed to flee the spot.

Ariz Khan, who was pronounced a proclaimed offender in 2009 by a court, was later arrested in February 2018. Following his arrest, he was convicted on March 8th, 2021, by the trial court and was awarded the death penalty on March 15th, 2021. Another convict in the case, Shahzad Ahmed, who was arrested on January 1, 2010, was sentenced to life imprisonment.