'Bulldozed' Rights Of Accused: Court Raps Delhi Police Over Shoddy Probe In Delhi Riots Case, Asks Commissioner To Take Action

A Delhi Court has directed the Commissioner of Delhi Police to take action after examining the conduct of investigation in a 2020 North-East Delhi riots case, after flagging serious lapses in collection and proof of evidence. Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of Karkardooma Courts said that the “audacity and impunity” with which the record of the case was “tampered with” reflected a “complete breakdown of the supervisory mechanism.”Noting that “fabricated chargesheet” was forwarded by the supervisory officers i.e. the then SHO and the ACP concerned, the Court said:“Had that mechanism worked as it is expected to work, the rights of the accused and the expectation of the society at large that criminal cases are investigated fairly would not have been bulldozed and pulverized.”“Therefore, I hereby direct that the copy of this order be placed before the worthy Commissioner of Police Delhi who shall initiate necessary action against those responsible and it is expected that steps will be taken to avoid reoccurrence of such ignominy,” it ordered. The judge passed the order while acquitting six men- Prem Prakash, Ishu Gupta, Rajkumar, Amit, Rahul and Hariom Sharma, in a case related to incidents of arson, vandalism and rioting near Azizia Masjid during the riots. Perusing the case diaries, the Court observed that statements of witnesses were subsequently recorded to implicate the accused and later, fabricated statements were produced before the court, original statements were withheld and witnesses were suborned.“Hence, a perusal of the case diary revealed that till the first arrest was made on 07.03.2020, at least from these two witnesses, IO had no lead regarding the culprits of the present crime,” the judge said.Further, it was observed that the case of the prosecution was found to be a built up case on the basis of the witnesses who as per their initial statements had not seen any of the rioters but who as per their subsequent “tampered, manipulated and fabricated statements” to the police went on to state that they had seen and recognized four persons by their names. The judge also noted that the witnesses in question surprisingly, even in the fabricated initial statements, did not name the bad character of their area, who was leading the mob.Click here to read order

'Bulldozed' Rights Of Accused: Court Raps Delhi Police Over Shoddy Probe In Delhi Riots Case, Asks Commissioner To Take Action

Nupur Thapliyal

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