Allahabad High Court Seeks UP Govt's Response in 1987 Maliana Massacre Case

The incident involves alleged communal killings of 72 Muslim men at Maliana in Meerut district of the State in May 1987.

As per the Petitioners, the illegal killings were done by 44th Battalion of the PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary) at the instructions of its communalist leader, Commandant RD Tripathi.

It is stated that he, in connivance with the UP Administration has managed a comprehensive cover up of the crime by destroying all the evidence including court records. Consequently, the Trial has come to a standstill, even after passing of 32 years from the date of incident.

A Division Bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Yadav and Justice Prakash Padia on Monday called upon the State Government to file its counter affidavit in the matter, in approximately four weeks.

The order stated,

"Taking into consideration the grievance raised in the petition and the relief sought we call upon the State to file counter affidavit and para-wise reply to the writ petition. List in week commencing 24th May, 2021 in the additional cause list."

The petition has been filed by Qurban Ali (a senior journalist) Vibhuti Narain Rai (a retired DGP from UP Cadre); Ismail Khan (who lost his 11 family members in the massacre) and MA Rashid (a lawyer in Meerut court).

Advocate Ali Qambar Zaidi appeared for the Petitioners. He informed the Court that the trial is at a standstill even after 32 years of the incident.

It was alleged that that the FIR did not include any name of PAC personnel and is now missing, from both the court and concerned police station. It is argued that the records have probably been done away with by the accused and the state government.

The Petitioners further alleged that there has been no progress in the trial since prosecution has filed more than 100 applications for adjournment and the same were "allowed for today" by the trial court in a mechanical manner.

Furthermore, the plea states that at the time, the State had ordered an independent probe into the incident by Justice Srivastava Commission. However, its report has been suppressed and the report is yet to see the light of day.

They urged the Court to direct the state of UP to reconstruct the court record and proceed with the trail.

In the interim, they sought compensation of Rs. 5 crores each to all the 72 families of the persons who were killed and Rs. 1 crore each to all the persons injured during the massacre.

Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal appeared for the State.

Case Title: Qurban Ali & Ors. v. State of UP & Ors.

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