A Delhi court on Monday acquitted six men accused of arson, rioting and criminal conspiracy during the 2020 Northeast Delhi pogrom, sharply criticising the police for what it called a “cooked-up” case and shoddy investigation.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh at Karkardooma Courts freed Ishu Gupta, Prem Prakash, Raj Kumar alias Sewaiya, Manish Sharma alias Panchar, Rahul alias Golu and Amit alias Annu, who had been facing trial for allegedly setting fire to homes, shops, vehicles, and the Azizia Masjid in New Usmanpur on 26 February 2020.
In his 34-page order, Singh said the case was built on “egregious padding of evidence” and that the only police witness presented was “completely unreliable.” He noted that arrest memos were contradictory, with some showing suspects arrested in this case hours before they were officially taken into custody in related cases — an “impossibility,” the judge observed.
“The entire case built up on the basis of the disclosures of accused, which led to their arrest, is falling apart,” Singh wrote. He added that the absence of original case diaries and the manipulation of witness statements revealed that “a false case has been foisted upon the accused merely in order to show that the case is worked out.”
The court also flagged defects in the medical record of an alleged assault victim, saying the “serious cuttings” in the report and the lack of corroboration “raise doubts whether the MLC even belonged” to the man. Another eyewitness, the judge noted, was brought in only after the arrests and was shown photographs instead of participating in a judicial identification parade, undermining credibility.
Calling the investigation “shoddy” and “mechanical,” the judge warned that such practices “lead to serious erosion of the faith of the people in the investigating process and the rule of law.” He directed that a copy of the judgment be sent to the Delhi Police Commissioner for remedial action.
All six accused were acquitted of rioting, arson, conspiracy and attempt to commit culpable homicide. Their bail bonds were cancelled and sureties discharged.
The 2020 pogrom in northeast Delhi, which broke out amid protests against India’s citizenship law, left at least 53 people dead and hundreds injured, an overwhelming majority of them Muslims.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com.
