2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits 12 accused in murder and conspiracy cases due to lack of evidence

2020 Delhi riots: 12 men accused of murder and conspiracy during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots were acquitted by a court because of a lack of evidence on the record to show that any of them was a member of the culprit mob.

Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala was hearing two cases registered by the Gokalpuri police station against the men.

He observed that the WhatsApp chats of one of the accused, Lokesh Kumar Solanki, confessing to the two murders were not “substantive evidence”.

According to the chargesheets, the victims, Aamin and Bhure Ali, were killed by rioters and their bodies were thrown into drains on February 25 and 26, 2020, respectively.

In two orders dated March 28, the court said that the prosecution's evidence about the messages being exchanged by the accused confessing to the murders in a WhatsApp group could not be used as substantive or primary evidence.

"Such posts may be put in the group solely to become a hero in the estimation of other members of the group. It could also be a boast without truth. Therefore, the relied-upon chats cannot be substantive evidence to show that the accused, Lokesh Solanki, had actually killed two Muslim persons. These chats at the most could be used a corroborative piece of evidence...," the court said.

It said that the prosecution had relied upon the same WhatsApp chats to support the allegations of murder against the accused in several other cases also.

The judge said that though the offence of murder was established, their particulars, including the time and place, were not proved. Also, another question that remained unanswered was whether the offence was committed by an unlawful assembly consisting of five or more persons, he said.

"It is only a formality to say that there is no evidence on the record to show that any of the accused was a member of the culprit mob," the judge said.

The judge also observed that a key prosecution witness did not identify the accused persons and made a “generalised statement, perhaps based on hearsay”.

“I find that charges levelled against the accused persons are not proved at all. Hence, all accused, namely Lokesh Kumar Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Ankit Chaudhary, Prince, Jatin Sharma, Himanshu Thakur, Vivek Panchal, Rishabh Chaudhary, Sumit Chaudhary, Tinku Arora, Sandeep and Sahil are acquitted of all charges,” the judge said.

(Updated with the latest information using PTI inputs)