New Delhi: Nearly 22 months after the deadly riots in north-east Delhi that killed at least 53 and injured several hundreds, the first conviction in the over 750 cases registered has now come with Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat convicting one Dinesh Yadav for rioting and burning down the home of 73-year-old Manori on February 25 last year. Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat convicted Dinesh Yadav for being a member of an unlawful assembly, rioting, arson, house trespassing, and robbery.
The accused stands convicted for offences punishable under sections 143 (member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 457 (house tresspass), 392(robbery), 436 (arson) of IPC read with section 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of common offence) of IPC, the judge stated in the order and listed the matter for order on sentence on December 22.
The maximum punishment under these Sections entails a jail term of up to ten years.
As per the prosecution, Yadav was an active member of the riotous mob and took active participation in vandalizing and putting on fire the house of a 73-year-old woman named Manori on February 25 night.
She had alleged a mob of around 150-200 rioters attacked her house when her family was not present and looted all the articles and even the buffalo. The 25-year-old Yadav was arrested on June 8, 2020. The court framed charges against him on August 3, 2021, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
It is great to share that the first conviction order has been issued today in respect of North-East Riot Cases, Sanjay Kumar Sain, DCP northeast district said in a press statement.
However, this is not the first of the Delhi riots cases to complete a trial. In July this year, the first trial in the riots cases was completed, during which the Delhi Police's case fell flat and the accused was acquitted of all charges. The court had noted that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove its case.
Significantly, the Delhi Police has time and again been pulled up by multiple courts in the Capital for their inefficient and sometimes callous investigations in the cases related to the riots at the stage of framing charges or at the stage of bail.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi in February 2020, after violence between the Citizenship (Amendment) Act supporters and its protesters spiraled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and over 700 injured.