NEW DELHI, Sept 13: The Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld the death penalty awarded to alleged Lashkar-i-Taiba militant Mohammad Ashfaq in the 2000 Red Fort attack case but acquitted six others sentenced to varying jail terms.
Justice R. S. Sodhi and Justice P. K. Bhasin dismissed Ashfaq’s appeal against a trial court verdict awarding capital punishment to him for waging war against the state and killing three people, including two Army men, in the 17th century Red Fort on the night of Dec 22, 2000.
Prosecution has proved its case with sufficient evidence against Ashfaq for his involvement in the attack, the judges said. As for the other accused, the prosecution failed to complete the chain of events.
The trial court’s conviction order, based on confessions of the accused, was reversed by the court since the statements were given to the police, which are not admissible as evidence.
“We uphold the conviction and death sentence to Ashfaq and the remaining six convicts are acquitted,” the two-judge bench said.
