The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to eight convicts in a case pertaining to the killing of 42 Muslim men from Uttar Pradesh’s Hashimpura in 1987, reported PTI.

A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice AG Masih took note that the convicts had been in jail since 2018, when the Delhi High Court reversed their acquittal, according to Live Law.

The crime dates back to May 22, 1987, when the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary picked up 42 Muslim men from Hashimpura in Meerut district, put them on a lorry, drove them to a nearby canal, shot all of them and then dumped their bodies in the water.

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A day later, a mob, along with members of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, surrounded Meerut’s Maliana village from all sides and allegedly shot at Muslim men, women and children.

On October 31, 2018, a Delhi High Court bench comprising Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel set aside the trial court’s judgement of 2015 that had acquitted 16 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary for their role in the Hashimpura massacre.

Appearing for four of the convicts on Friday, Senior Advocate Amit Anand Tiwari aregued before the Supreme Court that the High Court’s decision in 2018 was based on erroneous grounds.

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Tiwari claimed that the behaviour of the convicts during the appeal process has been exemplary, reported PTI.

The court accepted the submissions and allowed the bail plea of the eight convicts.