2007 Rampur CRPF camp terror attack case: SC agrees to hear UP’s plea against HC order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the Uttar Pradesh Government’s plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which set aside the death penalty awarded to four accused and life imprisonment to another in the 2007 Rampur CRPF camp terror attack case.

Eight CRPF personnel had died and five were injured in the attack on the camp at Rampur on the night of December 31, 2007.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the accused persons on the plea filed by the state and posted the matter for hearing after four weeks. Advocate MS Khan appeared for the five accused.

The State has challenged the High Court’s October 29 last year verdict.

The High Court had set aside a trial court order that awarded capital punishment to four persons and life imprisonment to another in the case.

It had acquitted Mohd Sharif, Sabauddin, Imran Shahjad, Mohd Farooq and Jang Bahadur Khan on murder and other serious charges, saying the prosecution “miserably failed to prove the case against the accused for the principal offence beyond a reasonable doubt”.

The High Court, however, found the five, including Jang Bahadur Khan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court, guilty under Section 25 (1-A) of the Arms Act and sentenced them to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

“Before parting with the case, we would definitely like to mention that this case would have met a different result had the investigation and the prosecution been conducted by more trained police,” the High Court had said.

It had said defect in the investigation went to the root of the case and ultimately culminated in the acquittal of the accused persons. “Mohd Sharif; Sabauddin; Imran Shahjad and Mohd Farooq, who were awarded capital punishment (ie, Death sentence) and a fine of Rs 50,000 (each of the accused) under Section 302 read with Section 149 of IPC, are acquitted of the charges levelled against them,” the High Court had said. “Jang Bahadur Khan, who was awarded life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 50,000 under Section 302 read with Section 149 of IPC, is also acquitted,” it had said.

The High Court had imposed a fine of Rs one lakh each on the five accused for the offence committed by them under the Arms Act. The accused persons had filed appeals before the High Court against the judgment passed by the additional district and sessions judge of Rampur on November 1, 2019, and November 2, 2019.