New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday sought Delhi government and Delhi Police’s response to the plea of a former assistant commissioner of police who has challenged his conviction for gunning down two businessman in Connaught Place in March 1997, after mistaking them to be gangsters.
The notices were issued by a bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice A.K. Patnaik.

S.S. Rathee, currently serving life term in Tihar jail following his conviction by Delhi trial court on Oct 24, 2007, has moved the apex court, challenging the Sep 18 ruling of the Delhi High Court, which endorsed the trial court judgement convicting him and nine other policemen involved in the shoot-out.

The apex court, however, refused to grant bail to Rathee, telling him to cool his heels in the jail for time being.

Rathee, who has spent over four years in Tihar Jail, had pleaded for bail, saying that he should be enlarged on it till disposal of his appeal.

The bench, however, told him to move court for bail after at least one more year.

A team of policemen, headed by Rathee. had ended up gunning down two Haryana-based businessmen, Pradeep Goyal and Jagjeet Singh, on the outer circle of the Connaught Place near The Statesman office on the afternoon of March 31, 1997.

The police team had intercepted the businessmen’s car on the outer circle and opened fire on it, mistaking one of them to be a wanted gagster, Yaseen.

Rathee, in his appeal, contended that it was not a case of murder committed as per a pre-planned conspiracy but a chance happening owing to several coincidences which made the police team arrive at a wrong conclusion.