HC seeks Delhi Police response on Tahir Hussain’s appeal against conviction, life sentence in Ankit Sharma case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Delhi Police on an appeal filed by former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain challenging his conviction and life imprisonment in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.

A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Vikas Mahajan also indicated that Hussain’s appeal would be heard along with connected appeals filed by two other convicts in the case.

During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Rajat Nair appeared for the Delhi Police and submitted that the prosecution would like to have Hussain’s appeal heard along with similar appeals filed by the other convicts in the case.

“All connected matters are coming on December 2. We will assess the roles separately. It will save judicial time if the appeals are heard together,” the Justice Singh-led Bench observed.

“Issue notice. Call for nominal roll. List along with connected appeals on December 02,” the High Court ordered.

The development comes after Hussain moved the High Court challenging his conviction and sentence of rigorous imprisonment for life in the case.

Earlier, convicts Nazim and Kasim had also approached the Delhi High Court against their conviction and sentence.

The Karkardooma Court had convicted Hussain and four others — Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim — for the murder of Sharma and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The trial court had held the five guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person), 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

However, the court acquitted all five convicts of the charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the IPC and also acquitted six other accused, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The Delhi Police had earlier told the High Court that it was in the process of challenging the acquittal of the six accused.

While pronouncing the sentence, Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh had described the crime as a “very serious” incident and observed that Sharma was “brutally murdered” and his body was left “like an animal”, adding that the incident had “shaken the conscience of society”.

The Delhi Police had sought the death penalty for Hussain and the other convicts, describing Sharma’s killing as a “cold-blooded” and “brutal” murder and pointing to the 51 injuries found on his body.

The defence, however, had opposed the plea for capital punishment, arguing that the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category warranting the death sentence.

The case relates to the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in the Khajuri Khas area on February 26, 2020, amid the communal violence in North-East Delhi.

According to the prosecution, Sharma was caught in the violence near his residence on February 25, 2020, when clashes broke out between two groups near Chand Bagh Pulia.

He was allegedly abducted by a mob, assaulted and stabbed multiple times before his body was dumped into a nearby drain. An FIR was registered at the Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, who alleged that his son had gone out to purchase household items but did not return.

The communal violence that rocked North-East Delhi in February 2020 claimed 53 lives, left several others injured and caused extensive damage to property.

IANS