Court to pronounce judgment in Delhi riots related case on Tuesday

NEW DELHI: A court here is scheduled to pronounce judgment on Tuesday in a case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots in which a man was charged for rioting, dacoity, and being part of an unlawful assembly.

According to the police, accused Suresh, along with a huge crowd of rioters carrying iron rods and sticks, allegedly broke open the lock of a shop situated in Delhi's Babarpur Road and looted it on February 25 evening.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat had reserved the order on April 21 and since then the verdict has been deferred seven times.

On March 9, 2021, the court had framed charges against Suresh under Sections 143 (punishment for being a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code.

He was also charged under Section 454 (house-trespass) read with Section 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 395 (punishment for dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

The shop belonged to one Bhagat Singh and was rented to Asif, who is the complainant in the case.

During the investigation, Singh told the police that the “rioters were aggressive and wanted to loot the said shop because it was of a Muslim and he tried to stop them but in vain.”

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi in February 2020, after violence between the Citizenship (Amendment) Act supporters and its protesters spiraled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and over 700 injured.