NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has convicted six men in a February 2020 riots case after holding that the offences were proved by the prosecution “beyond reasonable doubt”.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh said the prosecution had proved its case, noting the accused on February 25, 2020, at around 11-11.30 pm, being part of a mob comprising between 100 and 150 persons broke open a shop’s entrance, ransacked it and set the articles, and the store on fire.
“This assembly was armed with lathis and dandas, etc., which, if used by the mob, could have been deadly weapons, and thus, this assembly had committed the offence of rioting while being armed with deadly weapons,” the court said. The complainant, who was the shop owner, was said to have suffered losses of about Rs 1.5 lakh.
According to the prosecution, Hariom Gupta, Basant Kumar Mishra, Gorakh Nath, Rohit Gautam, Kapil Pandey and Bheem Sain, were part of a mob that committed the crime.
The September 11 order noted that despite the cross-examination, the defence was unable to shake the testimony of a crucial eyewitness, namely, head constable Sandeep.
The court said the common object of the unlawful assembly was to carry out riots, arson and mischief.
He said the assembly unlawful assembly committed an act of riot when this it broke open the shop and set its articles on fire. The court acquitted them under IPC Section 436 for house destruction but convicted them under Section 435 for mischief causing loss of Rs 100 or more. Sentencing arguments are scheduled for September 19.