The Delhi High Court on Wednesday overturned the death sentence given to former Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) R P Tyagi and acquitted another Delhi Police personnel in a 1987 case of death in custody.

A bench of Justices Mukul Mudgal and P K Bhasin gave eight years imprisonment to Tyagi and imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him.

Earlier, Tyagi was sentenced to death by the Karkardooma Court on December 15, 2006 for the custodial death of Mahendra Kumar.
Kumar was killed in August 1987 in Vivek Vihar police station where Tyagi was then SHO.

Mahendra Kumar's family will be given Rs. 4 lakh, which includes the fine and Rs. 2 lakh more will be added by the state.

Court described the custodial death as ‘the worst kind of crime possible’. It has also warned that no man is above the law.

The Court also decided two appeals filed by other co-accused - former ACP K P Singh and Sub-Inspector Tej Singh, who were earlier awarded one and three year jail term, respectively, for their complicity in the offence.

While K P Singh's plea against the conviction was allowed, the Court rejected Tej Singh's petition and awarded him six-months jail term for his laxity in probing the case against his senior, ACP Tyagi.

A Delhi court, on December 18, 2006, had awarded death penalty to former ACP Tyagi for torturing Mahender to death. The victim and his friend Ram Kumar were arrested in August 1987 for assaulting a constable posted at Vivek Vihar in east Delhi.

EMAIL THIS NEWS COMMENTS No comments yet