A Delhi court has framed charges against a father-son duo for allegedly damaging and setting on fire a mosque and several houses and shops in Khajuri Khas during the north-east Delhi riots last year.
The court said that the accused can’t simply claim discharge in the case by stating that there was a delay in recording witnesses’ statements. It framed charges against two persons — Mithhan Singh and Jony Kumar.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat in a November 20 order said that eyewitness accounts given cannot be ignored at this stage merely for the reason that their statements had been recorded after a delay of one week from the date of the incident.
According to case records, the accused were allegedly part of a mob that raised “Jai Shree Ram” slogans and went on to damage the Fatima Masjid and other shops and houses in Khajuri Khas on February 25.
An FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint from a person called Aamir Hussain whose house was among those damaged by the mob. The counsel for the accused argued that all the witnesses in the case are planted and their statements are also delayed.
“... it cannot be said that the delay in recording the statements of these witnesses was intentional and contumacious and therefore, the accused cannot claim discharge in this case merely on this score,” the court noted in its order while framing charges under IPC Sections relating to rioting, vandalism, mischief with fire, among others.
