Stating that records were tampered with by the Delhi Police, a Delhi court has acquitted six persons accused of committing arson, rioting, and criminal conspiracy during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
“… I must observe that the audacity and impunity with which the record was tampered with reflects a complete breakdown of the supervisory mechanism because the fabricated chargesheet was forwarded by the supervisory officers i.e. the then SHO and the ACP concerned,” said Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Parveen Singh of Karkardooma Court in his judgment dated January 31.
“Had that mechanism worked as it is expected to work, the rights of the accused and the expectation of the society at large, that criminal cases are investigated fairly, would not have been bulldozed and pulverised,” he added.
The six persons arrested were allegedly part of a mob which set ablaze several shops, houses and vehicles near Aziziya Masjid in New Usmanpur on February 25, 2020. Relying on CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts, police arrested Prem Prakash, Ishu Gupta, Raj Kumar, Amit, Rahul and Hariom Sharma.
“The case of the prosecution is found to be a built-up case on the basis of witnesses, who initially said they had not seen any of the rioters. But as per their tampered, manipulated and fabricated statements, [they] stated that they had seen and recognised the persons,” ASJ Singh said, adding that the evidence in the case had been manipulated.
In order to prove its case, the prosecution had examined 27 witnesses. As per the court, the three main witnesses were Head Constable Kishan, Samina Khatoon and ASI Vikas.
The court, however, pointed out several lacunae. “… The first and foremost being the failure of PW21 and PW24 (two of the witnesses) to recognise Hari Om Sharma and name him as one of the rioters in their initial statements u/s 161 CrPC… both these witnesses had consistently testified that they very well knew Hari Om Sharma,” said ASJ Singh.
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“Therefore, the absence of this person, who was very well known to both PW21 and PW24 and was in the forefront, in their initial statements u/s 161 CrPC which was recorded on 26.02.2020 and 25.02.2020 respectively, seems odd,” he added.
After going through the case diary, the judge also noted that the accused had been arrested based on their identification by a secret informer on the basis of CCTV footage.
“However, despite it being a vital piece of evidence which led to the arrest of accused Prem Prakash and which established his presence at the scene of crime, this CCTV footage was never proved in court,” the judge said.
On going through the video files in the pen drive, given to the court in a sealed cover, the judge found that the videos showed only a black screen.
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“Therefore, if that video was not of this riots and if the video files in the pen drive were blank, as seen by me, I fail to understand by what divine intervention ASI Sita Ram, IO of the case, would come to know that Prem Prakash was involved in this riot,” ASJ Singh said.
The court also directed that a copy of this order be placed before the Commissioner of Police who “shall initiate necessary action against those responsible”.
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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