Tahir Hussain not only a conspirator but a rioter: Delhi court

The case pertains to an alleged unlawful assembly led by Hussain on February 25, 2020, in Khajuri Khas. The godown of the complainant, Karan, was allegedly set ablaze during the riots and some valuables were also stolen. The Crime Branch investigated the case and filed a chargesheet against six persons.

The prosecution, during arguments on charge, had argued that apart from police witnesses, there are three public witnesses who had identified the accused. The recovery of a large number of stones, bricks, petrol bombs, catapults etc from the roof of the second floor of Husain’s building clearly shows that preparation for committing riots was going on for a long time before February 20, 2020, the prosecution argued.

The counsel representing Hussain argued that no incriminating material had been seized from the building of the accused in this case and that the seizures had taken place in another case. Hussain’s counsel also denied the allegation of being behind the conspiracy. The counsel representing other accused argued that the statements of all witnesses have been recorded after unexplained delay, which makes them prima facie unreliable.

However, the court said that nowhere at this stage it appears that they are planted witnesses and had not seen the incidents. The court also noted that the Covid-19 lockdown had put brakes on the speed of the investigation. It also distinguished the case from the larger conspiracy case.

“It can be said that the localised conspiracy involved in the instant case had emerged out of the larger conspiracy alleged in case FIR No. 59/2020, and the same may also turn out to be a part of such larger conspiracy, but the fact of the matter is that both conspiracies had been hatched at different places, at different times, by different persons and with distinct objects in mind,” said the court.