Slain Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma’s wife on Thursday expressed shock over the High Court commuting to life imprisonment the death penalty of Ariz Khan, who was convicted for killing the officer in the 2008 Batla House encounter.

Maya Sharma said the Delhi High Court order could affect the morale of Delhi Police personnel.

Earlier in the day, the High Court upheld a trial court order convicting Khan of the murder of the slain inspector but refused to confirm the capital punishment.

The trial court had convicted Khan on March 8, 2021, saying it was duly proved that he and his associates killed the police officer and fired gunshots at him.

It said his offence fell under the “rarest of the rare category”, warranting the maximum sentence and that he be “hanged by the neck” till death.

Maya Sharma said, “We are totally shocked and surprised. After a years-long legal battle, the lower court had awarded the death penalty to Ariz. The court had said it was a ‘rarest of rare’ case. Hence, it was proved that he was a threat to society.”

“Then how can his death penalty be commuted? Don’t you think this will lower the morale of the force, especially those officers who remain on the frontlines in such encounters,” she asked.

Maya Sharma said she is getting calls from people claiming “iss desh mein justice ho hi nahi sakta (justice cannot be delivered in this country)”. “You are not doing justice to the family that bore the loss,” she added.

Asked if her family will challenge the order in the Supreme Court, Maya Sharma said, “Of course we will plan something. But first let the copy of the order come and we will see on what grounds the High Court has given this judgement.”

Sharma, an officer of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, was killed in the encounter between police and terrorists in south Delhi’s Jamia Nagar on September 19, 2008. Two terrorists were also killed in the encounter that took place days after five synchronised bomb explosions rocked the national capital, killing 39 people and wounding 159. The inspector had raided the place while looking for the terrorists responsible for the blasts.

The trial court sentenced Khan to death on March 15, 2021 and imposed a fine of Rs 11 lakh on him, ordering that Rs 10 lakh be released to the family members of the slain inspector.