On March 28, 2022, the Supreme Court disposed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the bail granted to 10 out of 11 accused in the Ramgarh Lynching case, directing the High Court of Jharkhand to take up all pending appeals filed by the convicted accused within six months. It also directed the convicted accused to extend cooperation without praying for any adjournment of appeals.
The Bench stated, “Since 10 out of 11 convicted accused were granted relief in under Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the High Court has extended similar benefit to respondent no.2 herein. We, therefore, see no reason to entertain this Special Leave Petition at the instance of the original complainant.”
The men who had been convicted by a special fast track court in Ramgarh in March 2018, had their sentences suspended by the Jharkhand High Court in July 2018, pending a decision on their appeal against the lower court’s judgment.
Brief background of the case
On June 29, 2017, Alimuddin Ansari, a 45-year-old coal trader, was lynched by a mob of nearly 100 people in Bazartand in Ramgarh district on suspicion of transporting beef in his vehicle. They dragged him outside his vehicle and beat him with sticks and pieces of meat. The mob also set his car on fire.
Ansari was rescued by the police who arrived on the spot within 30 minutes, even as he was still being assaulted before a crowd that cheered the assailants. He was first taken to Sardar Hospital in Ramgarh, but transferred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi because of the severity of his injuries. It was at the second hospital that Ansari breathed his last. Ansari left behind six children including three daughters. He was the only earning member in the family.
The case also made headlines when in October 2017, a witness was unable to testify because his wife was killed in an accident outside the courtroom. “Alimuddin’s brother Jalil Ansari, a witness in the murder case, had come to depose before the court on Thursday. He had forgotten his identity proof, so he asked his wife Julekha, aged around 50, and Alimuddin’s son Shahzad Ansari (22) to go home and get it. The accident occurred while they were on their way. The police said that an unidentified bike hit the victim’s bike,” the Indian Express had reported then.
On March 21, 2018, the Sessions court of Ramgarh set a legal precedent as it awarded life sentence to the 11 accused, including Nityanand Mahto (local leader and BJP Media in-charge for Ramgarh). The court’s guilty verdict for the 11 men was the first conviction in India for Gau Rakshaks, the self-styled cow vigilantes linked to the RSS-BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal, who have gone on an attack-and-kill spree especially since the BJP-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in May 2014. All 11 accused Deepak Mishra, Chhotu Verma, Santosh Singh, Uttam Ram, Sikandar Ram, Vikram Prasad, Raju Kumar, Rohit Thakur, Nityanand Mahto, Kapil Thakur and Vicky Sao were sentenced under section 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees or upwards), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance) and 302 (murder) to rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs. 1000. In addition Deepak Mishra, Chhotu Verma and Santosh Singh were also sentenced under section 120 (concealing design to commit an offence) for rigorous life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 2000.
The court in the end, before passing the order, had recorded, “While as per Article 21 of the Constitution of India no person can be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to procedure established by law and state is duty bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being, but the state has completely failed to perform its constitutional as well as statutory obligations.” It also directed that since the victim needs to be adequately compensated, the case be recommended to District Legal Service Authority, Ramgarh for awarding adequate quantum of compensation to the victim of the crime.
However, the High Court of Jharkhand granted bail to one of the accused on June 8, 2018 eight others on June 29 and one other accused on July 10, 2018, on account of no evidence against them, as reported by the Scroll. Only one accused is still behind bars pending investigation with the Juvenile Justice Board, on account of being a minor.
As an added insult to the deceased victim’s grieving family, BJP leader Jayant Sinha who was then a Union Minister, in a brazen display of complete disregard for the law, was seen felicitating the convicts in July 2018, after welcoming them to his residence in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.
Disposing the Special Leave Petition filed by the deceased victim’s wife Mariyam Khatoon, the Supreme Court has requested the High Court to “take up all pending appeals filed by the convicted accused as early as possible and preferably within six months from the receipt of this order.”
The order maybe read here:
Related:
Victims of Gautankwad: Alimuddin Ansari
Want Justice not Revenge: Mariam Ansari