New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that it will challenge the acquittal of six accused in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.
The submission was made by the Delhi Police before a Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Vikas Mahajan, which was hearing appeals filed by convicts Nazim and Kasim challenging their conviction and life imprisonment in the case.
“The prosecution is also preferring an appeal. There are six accused who have been acquitted. We are in process,” Special Counsel Rajat Nair submitted before the Justice Singh-led Bench.
Taking note of the submission, the High Court issued notice to the Delhi Police on the appeals filed by Nazim and Kasim against their conviction and sentence and posted the matter for consideration of their applications seeking suspension of sentence and bail on December 2.
It recorded that the appeals arose out of the judgment dated July 13, by which the appellants had been convicted and subsequently sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life under various provisions of law.
The Karkardooma Court had on July 13 convicted former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four others — Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim — in the murder case, while acquitting six other accused for want of sufficient evidence.
The trial court had held the five convicts guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person), 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
However, the court acquitted all five convicts of the charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the IPC and also acquitted six other accused, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The trial court subsequently sentenced Hussain and the four others to life imprisonment.
While pronouncing the sentence, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Praveen Singh had described the crime as a “very serious” incident and observed that Sharma was “brutally murdered” and his body was left “like an animal”, adding that the incident had “shaken the conscience of society”.
The Delhi Police had sought the death penalty for the convicts, describing Sharma’s killing as a “cold-blooded” and “brutal” murder and pointing to the 51 injuries found on his body. However, the defence had opposed the plea for capital punishment, arguing that the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category warranting the death sentence.
The case relates to the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in the Khajuri Khas area on February 26, 2020, amid the communal violence in North-East Delhi.
According to the prosecution, Sharma was caught in the violence near his residence on February 25, 2020, when clashes broke out between two groups near Chand Bagh Pulia. He was allegedly abducted by a mob, assaulted and stabbed multiple times before his body was dumped into a nearby drain.
An FIR was registered at the Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, who alleged that his son had gone out to purchase household items but did not return.
The communal violence that rocked North-East Delhi in February 2020 claimed 53 lives, left several others injured and caused extensive property damage.
(IANS)
