NEW DELHI: A city court has acquitted six accused in a 2020 northeast Delhi riots case, saying that the prosecution had “miserably failed” to prove the charges. It stongly criticised the police for record tempering and directed the Commissioner of Delhi Police to initiating action against police personnel who were allegedly responsible for filing a “fabricated chargesheet”.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh passed the direction while acquitting Prem Prakash, Ishu Gupta, Rajkumar, Amit, Rahul, and Hariom Sharma, accused of being part of a violent mob during the riots that allegedly committed arson, vandalism, and looting near Azizia Masjid in Sudamapuri on February 25, 2020. The judge said, “I find that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove its case against the accused, and all the accused are acquitted of all the charges framed against them.”
The judge observed that the case was built on “manipulated statements” and “unreliable testimonies”, while directing that the copy of the court order be placed before the police commissioner for initiating action against those responsible. “I must observe that the audacity and impunity with which the record was tampered with reflect a complete breakdown of the supervisory mechanism, because the fabricated chargesheet was forwarded by the supervisory officers,” the judge said in the order passed on January 31.
The judge noted that several witnesses who initially said that they had not seen any rioters, later claimed to have identified specific accused by their names. He said that the video evidence relied upon by the prosecution was not proved in accordance with the law, lacking the mandatory certification under the Evidence Act. The judge added, “Had that mechanism worked as it is expected to work, the rights of the accused and the expectation of the society at large that criminal cases are investigated fairly would not have been bulldozed and pulverised.