New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) A Delhi court has acquitted four men in a riot case, saying it feels “absolute loath” to place any trust on the testimonies of two prosecution witnesses — a constable and a head constable — on the aspect of identification of rioters.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat acquitted Dinesh Yadav, Tinku, Sahil and Sandeep in a case related to robbing, vandalising and setting a house and shop on fire at the Bhagirathi Vihar area during the February 26, 2020, riots in the national capital.
The case was registered against them on the basis of two complaints filed by Afzal Saifi and Shoaib.
In his complaint, Saifi claimed that a riotous mob barged into his house, vandalised it, robbed articles, and set it on fire. Shoaib approached police with a similar complaint regarding theft at his shop, which was clubbed with Saifi’s complaint.
“In view of the nature of evidence lead by the prosecution, the identification of the accused as rioters who committed loot and arson in the house of PW1 (Saifi) becomes intensely doubtful. This court feels absolute loath to place any trust upon the testimony of PW8 and PW12 on the aspect of identification of the accused as rioters,” Bhat stated in his judgment.
Prosecution witnesses PW8 and PW12 mentioned in the judgment refer to a constable and a head constable, respectively.
The judge said that their deposition “needed a detailed scrutiny” as they saw the accused participate in the riotous incidents.
The judge, in an order dated January 7, said that the manner in which the two star witnesses — constable and a head constable — claimed to have identified the four accused as being amongst the rioters who looted and set Saifi’s house on fire “creates doubt in the mind of Court”.
“They claim that all the four accused were known to them and hence, they could identify them in the mob. Intriguingly, they did not inform either their senior officers or the IO (investigation officer) of this case about the fact that they knew some of the rioters who were involved in the rioting incidents in Bhagirathi Vihar on February 26 (2020),” Judge Bhat added.
The FIR in the case was registered and the investigation started on March 1, he said, adding that the duo maintained an “eerie” silence till March 22, 2020, when their statement was recorded by the IO.
Bhat, in his 13-page-long judgment, said that both of them appeared to have been introduced as eyewitnesses in this case dramatically all of a sudden on March 22, 2020.
During the trial, the accused, through advocates Shikha Garg, argued that they have been falsely implicated in the matter for being residents of the same locality.
Special Public Prosecutor D K Bhatia had vehemently argued that the four men were found to be “active member of the riotous mob” on the date and time of incident, who took active participation in vandalising and putting on fire the house and shop of complainants.
In another case on December 6, the judge had convicted Dinesh Yadav for setting a woman’s house on fire. It was the first conviction in the Delhi riots case. PTI AAK ANB ANB
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