A letter was sent by the Commission to the Secretary (Home), Government of UP on 27.8.1998 to provide details of CID report, permission accorded by UP Government for prosecution of indicted Police/PAC personnel and the status of legal proceedings regarding killings of Hashimpura youths in May, 1987.

Since no reply was received, the Commission invoked its judicial powers under Section 9(4)(b) of the NCM Act, 1992 which gives the Commission powers of 'requiring the discovery and protection any document and requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any Court or office' and asking the Chief Secretary, Government of UP vide its notice No.10/63/97 dated 16.3.99 to produce the following documents:

a) A copy of the report of the Judicial Commission on the killing of Muslim youths in Hashimpura (Meerut) in May, 1987.

b) A copy of the CID report indicting 61 police personnel/officials in Hashimpura killing.

c) A copy of the permission accorded by the UP Government for prosecution of the indicted police personnel.

d). The progress made in the prosecution of the indicted police personnel involved in the said killings, for which permission was given by the UP Government in 1995.

The Government of UP then responded vide its letter No.1964 P6 Police 399 dated 27.5.99, informing the Commission that no judicial inquiry was conducted in case of Hashimpura riots in1987 and after the orders for prosecution by the State Government, a charge-sheet has been submitted which is under consideration of the Court. The letter also enclosed copies of the 2 CID reports and 3 orders of the State Government for prosecution.

After careful examination of the documents submitted by the State Government of UP, the Commission has come to the conclusion that there has been a serious negligence on the part of the State Government in taking appropriate actions against the persons who were responsible for the ghastly crime of brutal killings of innocent youths. belonging to the Muslim minority community of Hashimpura. The incident occurred in 1987 but the Department, could complete the Internal CID Enquiry and furnish its report only in the year 1993 and 1994. Even thereafter, there was a considerable time lag in issuance of the orders by the State Government in prosecuting the guilty officials. The orders were issued only in June 1995 and May 1997. Since then there has been no progress in ensuring that the guilty officials are arrested and produced before the Court. This is not understandable as the indicted officers are the regular employees of the Police/PAC of the State Government. Also, while issuing orders for prosecution, the State Government ignored a large number of Police/PAC personnel who were indicted in the inquiry. It also ignored to proceed against those Police/PAC officials and Army personnel who did not cooperate with the inquiry and even told lies before the Inquiry Officer, which was proved by the Polygraph Test in the Central Forensic Laboratory, CGO Complex, New Delhi. The State Government should have initiated/recommended departmental proceedings against such officials.

In view of the above, the Commission has decided to recommend the following to the State Government:

1.     The quantum of compensation to the victims of barbaric custodial killings by UP Police/PAC in Hashimpura in May 1987 needs to be revised to the minimum level as decided by the Delhi High Court in the casc of Smt. Bhajan Kaur Vs. Government of Delhi (1984 anti-Sikh riots). An amount of Rs.40,000/ - paid in case of every death in this case is grossly inadequate which should, therefore, be revised to Rs.2.00 lakhs as on May 1987 and paid with interest to the next kin of those killed.

2.     The CID inquiry report indicted 66 PAC/Police personnel, but the Government of UP initiated proceeding only against 19 personnel. Government of UP should ensure that proceedings are initiated against all indicted persons. In order to ensure speedy trial, these cases should be heard by a Special Court.

3.     The State Government should also ensure that PAC/ Police/ Army personnel who did not cooperate with the CID inquiry or were found telling lies before the Enquiry Officer, are proceeded against in a Departmental proceedings, as the enquiry report has indicted them as well.

The above recommendations of the Commission are in accordance with the powers conferred to the  Commission under Section 9(1)(c) of the NCM Act 1992 and the State Government is required by the law to take necessary action on the same.