Batla House encounter case: 'Surprised and disappointed by conviction'

A trial court today convicted Shahzad Ahmad of firing at police officials and causing death of police officer MC Sharma in the controversial 2008 Batla House encounter case. Dressed in a white striped shirt and jeans, Shahzad did not show any outward reaction to the judgement and was whisked away by the police immediately after the judgement was read out. The order on quantum of sentence will be delivered on July 29. The verdict was delivered to a packed courtroom amid tight security. Reacting to the judgement, Manisha Sethi of the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association said, “We are surprised and disappointed by the judgement. The defence lawyer Satish Tamta had destroyed the prosecution case. This raises many questions. We will have to read the judgement to see on what grounds he has been convicted. How were the questions of the defence disregarded?” [caption id=“attachment_986117” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Delhi Police during the 2008 Batla House encounter. AFP[/caption] Shahzad, an accused in the 2008 Delhi serial blast case, was arrested in Uttar Pradhesh in February 2010. He had denied being present at the flat at the time of the encounter and accused the police of falsely implicating him. Shahzad’s counsel had argued that as per the ballistic reports the bullets found in MC Sharma’s body did not match the weapon that was recovered from Shahzad’s possession when he was arrested. The defence had also argued none of the witnesses had given any description of the occupants of the flat where the encounter took place. Shahzad has also been convicted of destroying evidence and obstructing police officials from doing their duty and of destroying evidence. Shahzad was the only one who stood trial in the Batla House encounter of September 19, 2008, that took place between the Special Cell of the Delhi Police and suspected terrorists. Inspector MC Sharma and two terror suspects - Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid - died in the shootout. The Delhi Police claimed that Shahzad had fled the scene along with another terror suspect Junaid by jumping off the fourth floor balcony of the flat. Junaid is still absconding. One of the occupants of flat, Saif, surrendered and was not charged with having any role in the encounter. Shahzad was arrested on Saif’s disclosure.