[Delhi Riots] Witness saw crime through gap in wall: Delhi Court frames murder charges against four

Relying on the testimony of an eye-witness who was stated to have witnessed a murder “through the gap in the wall,” a Delhi Court has framed murder and rioting charges against four men in relation to the 2020 Delhi Riots [State v. Anwar Hussain & Ors]..Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat found grounds to presume that Anwar Hussain, Kasim, Shahrukh and Khalid Ansari had committed offences under Section 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code..The order on charge passed on November 9 noted that the most important witness was an eyewitness who saw the “entire incident” and gave a “complete picture as to how the deceased Deepak was killed by the armed Muslim mob consisting of accused persons.”.The four men were accordingly put on trial for allegedly killing a man named Deepak during the February 2020 violence..The prosecution sought framing of charges on the ground of the eye-witness’ testimony, who had purportedly witnessed the crime. On behalf of the accused persons, it was argued that that there was no CCTV footage of the date of the incident implicating the accused persons. The counsel also contended that the First Information Report (FIR) did not named the accused persons.“The witness has identified the accused persons by name and no further test identification parade proceedings were conducted or identification done of the accused persons by the witness,” the counsel argued, seeking discharge in the case..After hearing the parties, the Court found,“By the manner of their mobilisation and intent as construed from their conduct, the said unlawful assembly can be said to have conducted itself for riots and other offences like murder of deceased Deepak, in prosecution of their common object. The conspiracy is also writ large by the calculated attack on the victim by the unlawful assembly.".The Court went on to add that according to the witness, he hid behind a wall at a nullah (drain) and witnessed the crime. “He has identified all the four accused persons by name. He further stated that he was terrified and came back to his home and came to know that Deepak had died,” added the order..The delay in recording his statement was condoned, as it was attributed to the fact that he was under shock and had gone to his village due to the COVID-19 situation. Further, he had returned later and given his statement, the order highlighted.The witness, who was also the deceased’s friend, was observed to have witnessed a “horrific individual crime” and the “general nature of the riots” was said to have added to it. .[Read Order]