Sentencing former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four others to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots, a Delhi court said Sharma’s “body was dragged like an animal” and the crime “was committed with utmost brutality”.
The court, however, rejected the police plea seeking the death penalty for the convicts, saying it was a “last resort”.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Praveen Singh of Karkardooma Court stated in the order, “The present crime was committed during the communal violence that erupted in the wake of protests against CAA/NRC. The manner in which it was committed was of the utmost brutality. The victim was sucked in by the murderous mob, baying for blood, solely on account of his religion…”
It added, “The assault was so fierce, unrelenting, and from such close quarters that even in death, the body did not immediately slump to the ground. The savagery, however, did not end there. The body of the victim was strapped like an animal and dragged to the Chand Bagh Pulia. As if the hatred had still not been satiated, the body was thereafter thrown into the nala. Therefore, the barbarity with which this horrendous murder was committed is nauseatingly sickening.”
“Every one of the convicts pleaded that they’re sole breadwinners. The monstrosity of the crime outweighs this fact,” the judge added.
Rejecting the death penalty plea, the judge said the “state didn’t bring anything on record to show that there was any violent disposition or propensity” in the crime on part of the convicts.
“It is now firmly established in our criminal jurisprudence that death is the penalty of the last resort. It is only when the State establishes that the convict has travelled so far down the road to perdition that there is no coming back, and that he has become a menace of such magnitude that the society must be rid of him, that capital punishment is to be resorted to,” the order stated.
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“It is, therefore, incumbent upon the prosecution to establish that the convicts are beyond the possibility of reformation and rehabilitation, thus removing from consideration the option of life imprisonment… The State has not brought anything on record to establish that any of the convicts has a violent disposition or a propensity towards crime. It has also not been shown that any of the convicts had previously been involved in any violent crime,” it further said.
“… mitigating circumstances, coupled with the fact that the convicts have not been found beyond reformation, balance the scales. Thus, I find myself unable to agree with Ld. SPP that the convicts are beyond reformation, or have such fiendish character that their continued existence, even in prison, will be a menace to society,” ASJ Singh said.
On Monday, the Delhi Police, represented by Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey, had demanded the death penalty for the convicted persons before ASJ Singh.
Claiming that the convicts “turned into butchers during the crime”, Pandey had said, “There was not even a single cloth except underwear on Sharma’s body. These people should be kept behind bars, (and) given the death sentence.”
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On the other hand, Tahir’s counsel argued that the death penalty should only be given in the rarest of rare cases. Citing Tahir’s good conduct, the defence counsel argued that the death penalty couldn’t be given merely on the basis of the injuries sustained.
The defence — led by advocates Rajiv Mohan, Narula, Sonal Sarda and Shivangi Sharma — further argued that throughout the entire trial, no evidence of criminal conspiracy was presented, and the police themselves were unable to control the violent mob.
The case
The five were convicted on July 13.
Tahir was convicted of murder and rioting, among other charges. He was, however, acquitted of the criminal conspiracy charge. The other four — Nazim, Qasim, Javed, Anas — were convicted under the same charges except murder.
The court, however, acquitted Haseen, Firoz, Gulfam, Soyab, Sameer Khan and Muntajim in the case.
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On February 25, 2020, Sharma went missing after he left his house in Chand Bagh to fetch household supplies. Police claimed he was dragged away by a mob and murdered, and his body dumped in a drain.
He was stabbed 51 times, according to the police. He was among the 53 who lost their lives in the communal violence.
An FIR was registered on February 26, 2020, based on a complaint by Ankit’s father, Ravinder Kumar, who named Tahir as an accused, alleging that rioters operating from his building executed the attack.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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