INDIA. Delhi: A Delhi court has filed charges of rioting and “attempt to kill” against six people for allegedly throwing stones and injuring a person in the case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
The court was hearing a case of stone pelting that took place in the Usmanpur area on February 25, 2020, in which complainant Hari Om Sharma was injured.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala noted that the accused used to throw stones at a group from their rooftops during the riots in the area.
The judge noted that it was inferred that the accused sought to cause harm with a common aim, that is to “cause harm to persons belonging to another community”.
“The injury sustained by Hari Om Sharma was the result of such conduct on the part of this unlawful assembly,” the judge said.
The judge allowed the six men to be charged under sections 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable murder) of the Indian Penal Code, and with section 149 (each member of an illegal assembly guilty of a crime committed in the prosecution of a common cause).
Earlier, the New Usmanpur police had registered an FIR against six accused – Firoz Khan, Shakir Ali, Iqbal, Zakir Ali, Sirajudden and Anas based on the statement of the complainant.
Last month, the Delhi court has acquitted six accused of attempted murder in the case. However, the court said they would face trial for the offence of disorderly conduct.
After issuing the order, the court remanded the case back to the relevant magistrate court, noting that the case cannot be heard exclusively by the Court of Appeal.
As the investigation was conducted, the accused persons could not be charged under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, although it could be argued that all the accused persons took part in the riots, Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat said.
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