Overview
- A division bench of Justices Sidharth Verma and Ram Manohar Narain Mishra set aside the 2019 verdicts, acquitting Mohd. Sharif, Sabauddin, Imran Shahjad, Mohd. Farooq and Jang Bahadur Khan of murder and UAPA charges.
- The court found all five guilty under Section 25(1-A) of the Arms Act and imposed 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment with Rs 1 lakh fines each, with time already served to be credited.
- Judges cited the absence of a test identification parade, questionable dock identification and gaps in eyewitness testimony as failures that did not link the accused to the assault.
- The bench said the chain of custody for fingerprints, cartridges and firearms was not proved, deemed the FSL report unreliable and noted bullets recovered at the camp did not match test rounds.
- The order allows the state to initiate action against police officers for investigative lapses in the case, which followed the late-2007 attack on the CRPF Group Centre in Rampur.