The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has removed the charge of murder from its chargesheet against two Delhi Police constables in connection with the death of 23-year-old Faizan during the 2020 communal riots in northeast Delhi. Faizan had been seen in a widely shared video allegedly being assaulted and forced to sing the national anthem and “Vande Mataram” along with four other Muslim men.
The case was transferred to the CBI by the Delhi High Court in 2024 following a petition by Faizan’s mother, Kismatun, who had accused police personnel of assaulting and illegally detaining her son and denying him critical medical care. Faizan succumbed to his injuries on February 26, 2020, shortly after being released. Communal clashes had erupted in the area two days earlier, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 700 injured.
The CBI has now filed a chargesheet against Head Constable Ravinder Kumar and Constable Pawan Yadav under IPC sections 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), which carries a maximum jail term of ten years, and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), among other provisions. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Mayank Goel said, “There is sufficient material on record to take cognisance of the commission of offence u/s 323, 325, 304(II) r/w section 34 IPC and substantive offences thereof.”
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, while transferring the case to the CBI in 2024, had remarked, “I am allowing the petition. I am transferring the case to CBI,” responding to the plea by Faizan’s mother seeking a Special Investigation Team probe.
