NEW DELHI: In the first sentencing in February 2020 North East Delhi riots, a city court on Thursday awarded a five-year jail term to one Dinesh Yadav for setting ablaze a house belonging to an old woman.
Yadav, 25, was convicted on December 6 last year for being part of the riotous mob that vandalised and set on fire the house of 73-year-old Manori on February 25, 2020.
He was convicted for being a member of an unlawful assembly, rioting, arson, house trespassing and robbery — offences which entail a jail term of up to ten years. Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat, however, said that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge of conspiracy against the accused. Though the offence was serious, the convict’s age, clean past and financial condition had to be kept in mind while pronouncing the sentence, the judge said.
“It cannot be gainsaid that the offence committed by the convict was a very serious one. However, no evidence had been led by the prosecution to prove that the unlawful assembly of which the convict was a member had been formed in pursuance to some conspiracy,” the order stated.
“The convict is a first-time offender and has clean past antecedents. It is also to be kept in mind that the convict has been held guilty only by virtue of Section 149 IPC and there was no evidence that he had directly committed the incident of violence in which the house of victim Manori had been vandalised and burnt. The young age of the convict also deserves to be kept in consideration while deciding the quantum of sentence,” the judge said.
Dinesh’s advocate Shikha Garg said he was directed to pay a fine of Rs 12,000. The judge observed that it would be “totally unjustified” to direct Yadav to pay any further compensation to the victim as he was unemployed, had no property or the paying capacity. The court also observed that the victim has received compensation from the Delhi government for the loss suffered by her.
Yadav was arrested on June 8, 2020. The court framed charges against him on August 3, 2021, to which he pleaded not guiltyl. Special Public Prosecutor RCS Bhadoria had sought maximum punishment.
Rioters came on Feb 25
Manori, 73, had alleged that a mob of around 150-200 rioters attacked her house on the night of February 25 when her family was not present and looted all the articles and even the buffalo