A Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday admitted the criminal appeal of the alleged victims of Maliana violence in which at least 72 Muslims lost their lives in Meerut in May 1987.
The High Court has issued notice to the parties concerned and summoned lower court records. The appeal was filed by Vakeel Ahmad, Mohd. Yakub and Ismail Khan against the acquittal order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge on March 31 this year at Meerut in sessions trial of State versus Kailash Bharti and others, arising out of case crime No. 136 of 1987 under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 302, 395, 397, 436 of the Indian Penal Code registered in the T.P. Nagar police station of Meerut.
Describing it as a positive development, counsel for the victims Mohd. Danish said that after the State didn’t appeal against the sessions court order, wherein it acquitted all the 39 accused, the victims and their family members decided to appeal against the order. “While Vakil Ahmad and Yakub are witnesses in the case whose testimonies have been recorded in the lower court, Ismail Khan allegedly lost 11 members of his family in the violence. He survived because he was out of town on the day of violence.”
In May 1987, large-scale violence took place in Meerut in which destruction of private property and killings took place. Among them, two incidents became prominent. One incident took place in Hashimpura mohalla in which many Muslims were killed and another incident took place in Maliana. “The incident happened in broad daylight on May 23, 1987, when Muslims were going to their houses after attending noon prayers when the accused, armed with weapons, entered their houses and assaulted the Muslims. They also set some of the houses and shops on fire. More than 72 people were killed. The accountability for these deaths needs to be fixed,” said senior journalist Qurban Ali who had covered the violence and has been following the case.
The next date of hearing is on August 14.
