New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Tuesday sentenced seven Uttarakhand policemen to life imprisonment for killing an MBA student in a fake encounter in 2009 in Dehradun, holding that extra-judicial killings had no place in a system governed by the rule of law.

Ranbir Singh, 22, a resident of Ghaziabad, was gunned down by the police on July 3, 2009, in Dehradun. The court did not accept the version of the police that they shot him as he was fleeing after beating up and snatching the service weapon of one of the cops who was on duty in view of the visit of the then President.

The court noted that the public humiliation of the policeman was the motive behind the shooting.

A bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and I.S. Mehta said in its 105-page judgment that fake encounter "is a form of extra-judicial killing" which has no place in a legal system governed by the rule of law.

"It is a manifestation of the impunity with which armed forces, including the police, are prone to act in utter disregard of the rule of law. It is also symbolic of the cynicism with which the police themselves view the efficacy of the criminal justice system. The police, in this perception, are not just the accusers, but the prosecutor, the judge and the executioner," the bench said.

"The lawlessness of a police force, which is what a fake encounter represents, is not a new phenomenon," the bench added. PTI