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The Allahabad high court on Thursday commuted life imprisonment awarded to 43 policemen in the 1991 Pilibhit fake encounter case, in which 10 Sikhs were killed after being branded terrorists, to seven-year rigorous imprisonment.
The court set aside the conviction of the police personnel by a trial court under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, saying the case falls under Exception 3 to Section 303 of the IPC which provides that culpable homicide is not murder if the offender, being a public servant or aiding a public servant, causes death by an act which he thinks is lawful.
The Lucknow bench directed that the convicts serve their sentence in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on them.
The bench held all 43 policemen guilty under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.
Undoubtedly, the bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav said, the police has to arrest accused persons and make them stand trial.
"It is not the duty of the police officers to kill the accused merely because he is a dreaded criminal," it said.
"In the present case, there was no ill will between the appellants -- police personnel and the deceased persons. The appellants were public servants and their object was the advancement of public justice," the bench said.
"No doubt, the appellants exceeded the powers given to them by law, and they caused the death of the deceased by doing an act which they, in good faith, believed to be lawful and necessary for the due discharge of their duty. In such circumstances, the offence that was committed by the appellants, was culpable homicide not amounting to murder," the bench said.
"The case of the appellants is covered under Exception 3 to the section 303 of IPC which provides that culpable homicide is not murder if the offender, being a public servant, or aiding a public servant acting for the advancement of public justice, exceeds the powers given to him by law, and causes death by doing an act which he, in good faith, thinks to be lawful and necessary for the due discharge of his duty as a public servant without ill will towards the person whose death he has caused," it said.
On July 12, 1991, the convicted policemen stopped a luxury bus carrying Sikh pilgrims and forced 10 passengers to get off.
A charge sheet filed in the case said the passengers were divided into groups, taken to different areas in a jungle and killed in "cold blood".
The policemen claimed the next day that 10 Khalistani terrorists had been killed. They claimed that some of the Sikhs in the bus were facing criminal cases and were armed.
The trial court had on April 4, 2016 found 47 policemen guilty of killing the Sikh men in fake encounters and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The policemen filed appeals against their conviction. During the pendency of appeals, four of them died.