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Uttarakhand fake encounter
CBI seeks death penalty for seven cops
Legal Correspondent

Ranbir didn’t snatch SI’s revolver: Court The CBI court has rejected Uttarakhand Police’s claim that Ranbir snatched the service revolver of a sub-inspector when he was stopped for a routine checking. Then Aaraghar police post in-charge, sub-inspector GD Bhatt had alleged that the encounter took place after Ranbir snatched his revolver and beat him up on Mohini Road in the Dalanwala area after which cops chased him down The police had claimed that Ranbir, along with two friends, had come to Dehradun to rob a businessman

New Delhi, June 7
The CBI today pleaded with a trial court to award death penalty to seven Uttarakhand policemen – six sub-inspectors and one constable – convicted yesterday for killing an MBA student in a fake encounter in Dehradun on July 3, 2009.

Special CBI Judge JPS Malik had convicted 18 cops in the case, but held that only seven of them were guilty of murder while 10 were part of criminal conspiracy. A clerk was ordered to be released as he had remained in jail for a sufficient period for a smaller crime of fudging police records to save the accused.

During today’s arguments on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to convicts, senior public prosecutor BK Shukla said the seven cops should be sent to the gallows as their crime fell under the “rarest of rare categories,” one of the main parameters evolved by the Supreme Court for awarding the death penalty.

“The police was meant for protecting citizens, but the convicts had killed the victim in a barbaric manner after subjecting him to torture. In one of the recent verdicts, the SC had clarified that cops involved in fake encounters deserved nothing but death penalty,” Shukla argued. The punishment should serve as a deterrent for other policemen, and should not send out a message that they can get away with lighter sentences, he pleaded.

The CBI also sought imposition of penalty on the convicts in order to pay sufficient compensation to the victim’s family. On the other hand, the convicts’ lawyer pleaded for leniency as the policemen had no criminal history. They should be given a chance to repent and reform as they were young and had families to look after, he said. After hearing arguments, the court reserved its judgment, likely to be delivered on June 9.