A local court in Delhi has acquitted 12 people accused of murder and criminal conspiracy in a case related to the 2020 north-eastern Delhi riots. According to the prosecution, the accused were part of the rioting crowd killing a person named Hashim Ali in Gokalpuri area on 26 February 2020.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said that the circumstantial evidence was inadequate to establish the identity of the accused as part of the crowd. In his 52 -page order given on April 30, the judge said, “I think there are some evidence in the name of circumstantial evidence, which are insufficient to call any accused person a member of the criminal mob.”
The court then acquitted Lokesh Kumar Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Ankit Chaudhary, Prince, Jatin Sharma, Himanshu Thakur, Vivek Panchal, Rishabh Chaudhary, Sumit Chaudhary, Tinku Arora, Sandeep and Sahil. It said that the prosecution had trusted the circumstantial evidence as eyewitnesses did not support his case to identify the accused.
The court also rejected the prosecution argument that some accused person (who was part of a WhatsApp group called “staunch Hindu unity”) confessed to murder in his chat. It states that such posts or messages can only be put in the group with the intention of becoming a hero in the eyes of other members of the group.
It states that these posts cannot be used as concrete evidence to prove the murder. An FIR has been lodged against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code which includes riot, murder and criminal conspiracy.
