Mob likely part of majority community, says court, discharges 11 men in Northeast Delhi riots case

It was alleged by the Investigating officer (IO), who was also a witness in this case, that two mobs raised slogans against each other, pelted each other with stones, and set ablaze a number of vehicles. The prosecution relied on the statements of two eyewitnesses who identified nine accused, and videos, which identified two accused carrying lathis.

Md Mumtaz, one of the complainants whose rented shop ‘Sanjar Chicken Corner’ was attacked, had alleged that the mob was chanting slogans of “Jai Shri Ram”. The Court noted that an addition made to the statement of Mumtaz by the prosecution, alleging that the mob was opposing Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was “artificially crafted”.

“If one carefully looks into the statement of Sachin and Deepak (two eyewitnesses), it appears that it was made on general observation and without actually witnessing the incident at Sanjar Chicken Shop,” observed the court while rejecting the testimonies of the two eyewitnesses.

The investigating officer, who was present at the spot, did not examine two other complainants who had seen the mob behind the incident, noted the court, calling it a major “omission on the part of the IO”.

It was also observed that the video relied upon by the prosecution to chargesheet two of the accused did not connect them with the alleged incidents. “…a general piece of evidence to show presence in the mob at some point of time and at some different place cannot be sufficient evidence to prosecute and charge an accused for a particular incident,” said ASJ Pramachala.

The accused were represented by advocates Tara Narula, Sowjanaya Shankaran, Abdul Gaffar, Badre Alam, R H Zaidi, and Ritesh Dhar Dubey.