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Safdar Hashmi`s killers get life sentence
Ghaziabad (UP), Nov 05: All the ten accused in the murder of well-known theatre personality Safdar Hashmi and another CPI (M) activist were today awarded life imprisonment by a local court here today, 14 years after the gruesome killing when they were staging a street play.
Ghaziabad (UP), Nov 05: All the ten accused in the murder of well-known theatre personality Safdar Hashmi and another CPI (M) activist were today awarded life imprisonment by a local court here today, 14 years after the gruesome killing when they were staging a street play.
Fourth additional district judge C D Rai awarded life sentence to Mukesh Sharma, an independent candidate in the Ghaziabad municipal elections, and his associates Devi Sharan Sharma, Jitender, Ram Avtar, Vinod, Yunus Ali, Tahir Hussein, Ramesh and Karan Singh under Section 302 (murder) of IPC for the killing of Hashmi and activist Ram Bahadur New Year`s day in 1989 in Jhandapur in Sahibabad. One of the accused Bhagat Bahadur has been absconding since the day of the incident.
Hashmi, a leading light of the left wing cultural outfit Jana Natya Manch, was enacting a play `Halla Bol` alongwith wife Molayashree Hashmi in support of CPI (M) candidate Ramnath Jha in Ghaziabad municipal elections in 1989 against Mukesh Sharma.
The judge, who observed that the case was "not one of the rarest of rare" but "symbolised criminalisation of politics", also six years` imprisonment to all the accused under various sections that covered rioting with deadly weapons, trespass, wrongful confinement and prosecution of common offence.
All the accused were present in the court to hear the judge pronounce the sentence. Yesterday, the judge had convicted them for the double murder. Two of the accused Sarjeet and Lakhi Ram died during the course of trial.
There were 41 witnesses in the case of which 13 were examined by the court.
Defence advocate J P Sharma argued that it was a scuffle in crowd and not a "rarest to rare category of crime" to be awarded the penalty.
Asserting it was not a murder case, he also argued that the incident occurred when a crowd pelted stones to clear the road "blocked" by the artists including Hashmi for staging the street play `Halla Bol`.
He also pointed out "difference in versions" of witnesses including wife of deceased Hashmi, Moloyashri.
Prosecution counsel Mahendra Mudgal pleaded that the murder be treated as the "rarest of the rare" cases, which was not accepted by the judge. Bureau Report
Hashmi, a leading light of the left wing cultural outfit Jana Natya Manch, was enacting a play `Halla Bol` alongwith wife Molayashree Hashmi in support of CPI (M) candidate Ramnath Jha in Ghaziabad municipal elections in 1989 against Mukesh Sharma.
The judge, who observed that the case was "not one of the rarest of rare" but "symbolised criminalisation of politics", also six years` imprisonment to all the accused under various sections that covered rioting with deadly weapons, trespass, wrongful confinement and prosecution of common offence.
All the accused were present in the court to hear the judge pronounce the sentence. Yesterday, the judge had convicted them for the double murder. Two of the accused Sarjeet and Lakhi Ram died during the course of trial.
There were 41 witnesses in the case of which 13 were examined by the court.
Defence advocate J P Sharma argued that it was a scuffle in crowd and not a "rarest to rare category of crime" to be awarded the penalty.
Asserting it was not a murder case, he also argued that the incident occurred when a crowd pelted stones to clear the road "blocked" by the artists including Hashmi for staging the street play `Halla Bol`.
He also pointed out "difference in versions" of witnesses including wife of deceased Hashmi, Moloyashri.
Prosecution counsel Mahendra Mudgal pleaded that the murder be treated as the "rarest of the rare" cases, which was not accepted by the judge. Bureau Report