The Delhi High Court has reserved its judgment on the confirmation of the death sentence awarded to Ariz Khan, who was convicted by a trial court in the infamous 2008 Batla House encounter case. The encounter resulted in the killing of decorated Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma. A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma heard arguments from Advocate MS Khan representing Ariz and Special Public Prosecutor Rajesh Mahajan representing Delhi Police.
After hearing the arguments, the bench stated, "Arguments have been heard. Judgment reserved." Ariz Khan was convicted and sentenced to death by the trial court in March 2021, with the court considering the case to be falling under the "rarest of the rare" category deserving the maximum penalty.
Ariz challenged the conviction and sentence by approaching the High Court in July 2021. Alongside this, the High Court received a reference for the confirmation of the death sentence, which is the subject of this current hearing.
Ariz was convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act. The trial court's observation was that there was no scope for Ariz's reformation, and the brutal act of firing on the policemen without provocation indicated that he posed a significant threat to society and was an enemy of the state.
The Batla House encounter, which occurred on September 19, 2008, led to the death of two Indian Mujahideen terrorists, Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid, along with Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma. The encounter took place in Delhi's Jamia Nagar shortly after a series of bomb explosions in the national capital that claimed many lives and left numerous injured. Ariz Khan managed to escape the site and was declared a proclaimed offender. He was later arrested in 2018 by Delhi Police from Uttarakhand's Banbasa area near the Nepal border, having acquired fake identity documents under the name "Mohammad Salim."
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