A Delhi court has found five men guilty of assaulting police officers and obstructing public servants during the northeast Delhi riots of 2020. The incident occurred in Bhajanpura, where the men were also charged with participating in an unlawful assembly. This conviction highlights ongoing legal actions related to the violence that erupted in Delhi in February 2020, which left several dead and many injured.
The prosecution alleged that a large mob protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) crossed the road divider, attacked police personnel, vandalised the petrol pump and set it and nearby vehicles on fire. The Special Public Prosecutor argued that injured witnesses established the violence, while police and other witnesses established that the five men were part of the mob that attacked police, indulged in stone-pelting and vandalism and set the petrol pump on fire. The court, however, acquitted them of the more serious charges of setting the petrol pump on fire, burning vehicles, causing grievous injuries and causing property damage.
Additional sessions judge Parveen Singh of Karkardooma Courts passed the order on September 9, convicting Arif, Mohd Khalid, Abdul Sattar, Tanveer Ali and Hunain. The court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentence on September 16. The case arose from violence near the Bhajanpura petrol pump on February 24, 2020. The prosecution examined 26 witnesses during the trial.
The court in its judgement, accepted a substantial part of the evidence, finding that “a mob of around 100-150 people had gathered near the petrol pump and had a common object of rioting, arson, criminal mischief and vandalism”.
It also noted that another fire report collected during the investigation had not been proved in evidence.
The court said Delhi Fire Service (DFS) reports produced by the prosecution did not establish that the petrol pump had been set ablaze at the time. The judge consequently found “very serious doubts” over the allegation that the mob had set the petrol pump on fire on February 24. “It is possible that this riotous unlawful assembly which was indulging in arson… the witnesses might have taken it that they had set fire to the petrol pump,” the judge said.
