The Delhi High Court website has made access to history just a few click away. In this age of misinformation, now you can read and hear the court proceedings, arguments and judgments of landmark cases in Indian history on the e-Museum section of the Delhi High Court website. The attached files on the website contain the entire record of the trial and appeal and provide valuable insight into the circumstances surrounding the cases that shook the nation.
From the Mahatma Gandhi's assassination case to the terrorist attack on Red Fort Attack in 2000, the museum has made available, not only briefs of the cases but also the detailed court proceedings as well as judgments in the cases that shook the nation. You can not only read, but also hear the audio of the case briefs.
Here's a brief overview of some of the landmark cases listed on the Delhi High Court website:
1) Red Fort Attack Case Of 2000
On December 12, 2000, unidentified terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba had entered the Red Fort and gunned down 3 soldiers of 7 Rajputana Rifles. Upon investigation it was revealed that the terrorists were assisted by 22 persons. On October 12, 2005, trial court convicted 7 out of 11 accused and awarded the death penalty to one main accused. The high court in 2007, upheld the sentence of the main accused but acquitted others. Then the case went to the Supreme Court. Entire proceedings of the case can be found on the website.
2) Mahatma Gandhi Assassination Case
On January 30, 1948 at about 5 pm at Birla House, New Delhi, Mahatma Gandhi was shot down by Nathuram V. Godse. Pursuant to investigation, the State had presented eight accused persons viz. Sh. Nathuram V. Godse, Sh. Narayan D. Apte, Sh. Vishnu R. Karkare, Sh. Madanlal K. Pahwa, Sh. Shankar Kistayya, Sh. Gopal V. Godse, Sh. Vinayak D. Savarkar, and Sh. Dattataraya S. Parchure, for trial before the Court of Sh. Atma Charan Esq., ICS, Special Judge, which was held at Red Fort, Delhi.
Upon conclusion of trial, the Court of Sh. Atma Charan Esq., ICS, Special Judge had convicted seven out of the eight accused persons with various offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Explosive Substances Act, 1908. The original file of the entire proceedings can be found on the website
3) Indira Gandhi Assassination Case
As an aftermath of operation Blue Star, Indira Gandhi, the first and only female Prime Minister of India was assassinated at her residence at 1, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi, on 31st October, 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards, Sub-Inspector Beant Singh and Ct. Satwant Singh.
"While Sub-Inspector Beant Singh was killed on the spot by security personnel, Ct. Satwant Singh along with his alleged accomplices, Sh. Balbir Singh and Sh. Kehar Singh, was tried by the Court of Sh. Mahesh Chandra, Additional Sessions Judge, Delhi, inter-alia qua the planned assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. During the trial, which was held at Central Jail, Tihar and covered by a number of national and international press agencies..."
Vide his judgment dated 22.01.1986, Mahesh Chandra, Additional Sessions Judge, Delhi had found all three accused inter-alia guilty of planning the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and the accused, Ct. Satwant Singh of carrying out the assassination with Sub-Inspector Beant Singh.
"The attached file contains the entire record of the trial conducted in the Court of Sh. Mahesh Chandra, Additional Sessions Judge, Delhi and provides valuable insight qua the circumstances in which the said trial was conducted. The judgement passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the final appeal can be found on the website," the website read.
4) Uphaar Cinema Case
On 13th June, 1997, during the screening of the movie “Border” a fire had broken out in a transformer located in the basement of Uphaar Cinema located in Green Park, Delhi. As a result 59 persons died and more than 100 persons were injured.
Upon investigation into cause of the fire, it was found that the fatal incident was a product of the combined criminal acts/omissions of the owners of Uphaar Cinema, the officials of Uphaar Cinema, the officials of Delhi Vidyut Board, the officials of Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the officials of Delhi Fire Service.
The e-Museum has files containing the entire record of the trial and appeal, which provide valuable insight into pursuit of justice made by Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) led by Mrs. Neelam Krishnamurthy, mother of the victims, Ms. Unnati and Mr. Ujjwal.
5) BMW Hit And Run Case
In the early morning of 10.01.1999 a BMW car had hit 7 persons on Lodhi Road, Delhi. As a result of the accident, 6 out of the 7 persons had died.
On the strength of the version inter-alia put forth by eye witnesses and the sole survivor of the accident, the State had prosecuted the main accused, Sanjiv Nanda and his accomplices inter-alia qua commission of offences punishable under Section 304 (Culpable Homicide not amounting to Murder), Section 304A (Causing Death by Negligence) and Section 308 (Attempt to Commit Culpable Homicide) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC, 1860).
6) Jessica Lal Murder Case
During the intervening night of 29th April and 30th April, 1999, a 34 years old model, Jessica Lal was shot dead at Tamarind Court, a famous restaurant in New Delhi.
Upon investigation it was revealed that she had been shot dead by the prime accused, Sidharth Vashist (Manu Sharma), son of a wealthy and influential politician of Haryana, because she had refused to serve him alcohol on account of closing of the bar. Upon conclusion of the trial, vide judgment dated 21.02.2006, the Court of Sh. S.L. Bhayana, Additional Sessions Judge, New Delhi had acquitted all the accused persons.
The judgment had resulted in media outrage and a huge furore amongst the general public. The High Court of Delhi had heard the appeal expeditiously and vide its judgment dated 18.12.2006. passed by Justice R. S. Sodhi and Justice P.K. Bhasin convicted the main accused, Manu Sharma for the murder of Ms. Jessica Lal and few other accused for assisting him in destroying the evidence of the case.