A Delhi court on Saturday convicted former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain of rioting and abetment to rioting in a case linked to the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020. The 12 other people accused in the same case were acquitted of all charges.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of the Karkardooma court held Hussain guilty, while discharging him of several other offences, including damage to property, arson and criminal conspiracy. The detailed order has not yet been released. The court will hear arguments on the sentence on November 16.
What the case is about
The case is based on a First Information Report filed at the Dayalpur police station by Irshad Ali. He alleged that his shop was looted and set on fire on February 24, 2020, at the height of the riots, and estimated his losses, including stolen goods and damage, at ₹27 lakh to ₹28 lakh.
Another complainant, Mohd Zahid, told investigators that members of the rioting mob had shouted slogans in support of Hussain, who was then a municipal councillor from the area.
Not his first conviction
Saturday’s verdict is the second conviction against Hussain in riots-related cases. In July this year, he and four others were convicted in the case over the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the riots.
The outcome on Saturday was mixed. The court accepted the charges of rioting and abetment against Hussain, but did not hold him responsible for the damage to property, the arson or a criminal conspiracy. For the 12 co-accused, the verdict means they have been cleared in this case.
Abetment means encouraging, instigating or helping others to commit an offence, so the conviction relates to Hussain’s role in the rioting rather than to the burning of the shop itself, from which he was discharged. The full reasoning will only be clear once the detailed order is published.
The 2020 riots
The communal violence that swept parts of northeast Delhi in late February 2020 claimed 53 lives, left many more injured and caused widespread damage to property. More than six years on, cases arising from the violence are still being decided by Delhi’s courts.
What happens next
Once the court releases its detailed judgment, both the defence and the prosecution will be able to study the reasoning behind the conviction and the acquittals. Hussain’s sentence will be decided after the hearing on November 16, and the verdict can be challenged in a higher court.
