Six persons who were charged with rioting, setting two homes on fire, and looting them during the riots in northeast Delhi in 2020 were cleared by a court here.
Further Sessions Sahil, Dinesh, Tinku, Sandeep, Vikas Kashyap, and Sonu were accused of participating in a riotous mob that committed trespass and thefts in a store in Bhagirathi Vihar on the intervening night of February 24 and 25, 2020. Judge Pulastya Pramachala made the ruling while hearing their case.
Additionally, they were charged with participating in an illegal gathering that allegedly committed theft, trespassing, and arson at a neighbouring home on February 24 at about 9 o’clock.
“I conclude that the accusations made against the accused individuals in this instance have not been established beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, all of the defendants are cleared of all allegations brought against them in this case, the court said on Thursday.
It was mentioned that the two prosecution witnesses who claimed to have observed the episodes were a constable and an assistant sub-inspector.
“If I compare the testimony of both of these witnesses, I find a huge gap of timing of the incidents in their statements,” the judge stated.
According to him, it is difficult to believe that they saw both of the aforementioned instances, and it is still “a matter of circumstantial evidence only” to conclude that the two episodes under investigation in this case were indeed started by a crowd.
The court said, “Considering such evidence, it can be assumed that both of these incidents would have been caused by a riotous mob.”
The court said that the accused were just demonstrated as being a part of the crowd at one point in time on that route with regard to their identification as members of the mob.
This evidence was insufficient, it was said, since police had opened separate prosecutions based on particular rioting occurrences.
The court said that it was the responsibility of the prosecution to prove that each and every defendant was a member of the mob that committed damage, arson, and looting at the two particular homes involved in this case.
It was also stated that one of the complainants testified that his neighbour had told him of the incident’s timing. But no one tracked down or looked into such a neighbour.
In light of these facts, the court concluded that the prosecution had not shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants in this instance were members of the mob that was to blame for both of the episodes under investigation.
On the basis of two allegations, the Gokalpuri Police Station filed a FIR against the six suspects under many IPC clauses, including rioting.
