New Delhi: All 82 persons, acquitted by a city court in the 2010 Mirchpur dalit killing case, were on Friday issued notices by the Delhi High Court along with the state on a plea challenging the acquittals.
A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and S P Garg sought their response by March 27 on the appeal filed by the family members of a 70-year-old Dalit, who was burnt alive along with his physically-challenged daughter.
The appeal also sought enhancement of the sentence for 12 of the convicts as five of them were awarded five years jail term each and seven others, sentenced to a year in jail, were let off on probation.
In its appeal, the victims` family sought the high court order to convert the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to that of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, which attracts death penalty for three convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence.
While acquitting 82 persons, the trial court in November last year had convicted 15 accused, belonging to the Jat community, for setting ablaze victim Tara Chand`s house, which resulted in his death along with his teenage daughter at Mirchpur village of Hissar district on April 21, 2010.
The incident took place following a dispute between Jat and Dalit communities.
Haryana police had registered an FIR against 97 persons of Jat community under various sections of the IPC and also the Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The probe agency had examined a a total of 68 prosecution witnesses including Tara Chand`s wife in the case. The Supreme Court had transferred the trial from Haryana to Delhi in December 2010.
PTI
