By IANS,
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Wednesday granted 15 days’ parole to suspended police official S.S. Rathi, serving life term along with nine other Delhi policemen for the broad daylight killing of two businessmen who were mistaken for gangsters and shot dead in Connaught Place 14 years ago.
Justice G.P. Mittal said: “Accused Rathi will be granted 15 days parole, which will be effective from June 21, the date for his release from jail.”
“He will be released from that date, and will remain out till 15 days get over,” the court said, adding that Rathi will have to furnish Rs.25,000 as personal bond and a surety of like amount.
The court gave its direction while hearing the petition filed by Rathi seeking a month’s parole to prepare his dissertation to be submitted at Annamalai University, Chennai, from where he is pursuing a law degree.
“He needs sufficient time to study on the topic and collect the material from the library of Jamia Millia Islamia University and he will also have to take help from the internet,” said the petition.
The petition also states that the topic – a critical study on doctors’ liability for negligence in their duty towards patients under the consumer protection act – needs approval from the supervisor of Jamia University, and only then can he submit the dissertation to Annamalai.
“He has to submit the dissertation by July 15,” said the petition.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice H.S. Bedi and Justice C.K. Prasad May 3 upheld the life term given to 10 Delhi policemen.
The bench concluded that the Delhi High Court correctly found the Delhi Police crack team led by then assistant commissioner of police S.S. Rathi guilty of “unprovoked, indiscriminate firing” on the businessmen – Pradeep Goel and Jagjit Singh – and later attempting to give it the colour of an encounter by planting weapons on the victims.
The bench dismissed the appeals filed by the convicts — Rathi, inspector Anil Kumar, sub-inspector Ashok Rana, head constables Shiv Kumar, Tejpal Singh, Mahavir Singh and constables Sumer Singh, Subhash Chand, Sunil Kumar and Kothari Ram.
The CBI accused Rathi and his team of being trigger happy on March 31, 1997 and killing Goel and Singh in the lure of police medals and promotions without even bothering to verify a tip-off about the movement of gangster Mohd Yasin and his henchman in the busy Connaught Place area.
Justice Bedi, writing the judgment for the Bench, agreed with the court that it appeared to be a mindless shooting by policemen unconcerned about the consequences.
On Sep 18, 2009, the high court agreed with the trial court’s October 2007 verdict convicting the cops for the killing and the life term awarded to them.
The Supreme Court, like the high court and the trial court, rejected the defence of the policemen that it was a case of mistaken identity. They had pleaded that the descriptions of Yasin and his associate matched that of Goel and Singh and they had no intention to kill an innocent person.