A Delhi court on Friday sentenced former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four others to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of the Karkardooma Court pronounced the sentence after hearing arguments on the quantum of punishment. The other convicts sentenced to life imprisonment are Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim.
The court rejected the prosecution’s plea seeking the death penalty, observing that while the murder was extremely brutal, the prosecution had failed to prove that the convicts were beyond the possibility of reform.
Court Calls Murder Brutal, Says Crime Shocked Society
While delivering the sentence, the court described the killing as a “very serious incident” that had shaken society.
The judge observed that the crime was committed during communal violence in Northeast Delhi and was carried out “with utmost brutality” solely on account of the victim’s religion.
The court also noted that Ankit Sharma’s body was dragged to Chand Bagh Pulia before being thrown into a drain, calling the barbarity “nauseating and sickening.”
However, the judge said the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category warranting capital punishment.
The court observed that “the prosecution was not able to prove that the convicts are beyond reformation,” adding that there was no evidence of previous criminal involvement or material to show they could not be rehabilitated.
Delhi Police Had Sought Death Penalty
Delhi Police had urged the court to award the death sentence, arguing that the murder was exceptionally brutal.
Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey told the court that Sharma was abducted and “relentlessly assaulted in a hapless manner.” Referring to the post-mortem report, he said the victim suffered 51 injuries, including 18 caused by sharp-edged weapons.
Arguing for the maximum punishment, Pandey said, “Those who are asking for mercy today should have shown mercy themselves. No mercy was shown from anyone’s side. No one even took Ankit to the hospital.”
The prosecution described the convicts as having “fallen to the level of being animals” and maintained that the case deserved the death penalty.
Conviction in Riot Murder Case
On July 14, the Karkardooma Court convicted Tahir Hussain and the four co-accused under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 302 (murder) and Section 147 (rioting), among other offences.
The court, however, acquitted all the accused of the charge of criminal conspiracy.
According to the prosecution, IB officer Ankit Sharma was killed on February 25, 2020, during the communal riots in Northeast Delhi after he was allegedly attacked by an armed mob near Chand Bagh Pulia. His body was recovered from a nearby drain the following day with multiple stab and sharp weapon injuries.
With Friday’s order, Tahir Hussain and the four other convicts will serve life imprisonment for Sharma’s murder.
