News Desk: A Delhi court on Saturday, October 10, convicted former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four other accused of abetting rioting in a case linked to arson in the Dayalpur area of northeast Delhi during the February 2020 riots.
The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai at the Karkardooma Courts. The court acquitted 12 other co-accused of the charges in the case.
The case relates to incidents of violence and arson in northeast Delhi during the riots that erupted in February 2020. The violence left several people dead, injured many others and caused extensive damage to homes, shops and other properties.
The First Information Report (FIR) in the case was registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 147, 148 and 149, which deal with rioting and unlawful assembly. The charges also included Section 427 for causing property damage, Section 436 for mischief by fire or explosive substances with intent to destroy a building, and Section 120B, which deals with criminal conspiracy.
The latest verdict marks the second conviction of Tahir Hussain in cases connected to the 2020 Delhi riots. He had earlier been convicted in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma, who was killed during the violence.
Hussain was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Ankit Sharma murder case. The prosecution had argued that Sharma was abducted and brutally assaulted by a mob during the riots.
During the proceedings in that case, Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey highlighted the severity of the attack, stating that Sharma had sustained 51 injuries, including 18 caused by sharp-edged weapons. The prosecutor argued that the nature of the assault demonstrated extreme brutality and sought the death penalty for the accused.
The prosecution maintained that Sharma was repeatedly attacked even after suffering fatal injuries. The court, while considering the case, had acknowledged the brutality of the crime but observed that the prosecution had not established that the convicts were beyond reform or that their release after serving their sentences would necessarily pose a threat to society.
The latest conviction adds another significant development to the continuing legal proceedings arising from the 2020 Delhi riots. Tahir Hussain, who was associated with the AAP before the riots, has faced multiple cases linked to the violence.
The court's decision concerns the specific charges in the Dayalpur arson case. Further details regarding the sentence in this case were not included in the information available at the time of reporting.
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