2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits three accused, finds key prosecution witness unreliable

A New Delhi court has acquitted three men in a case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, finding the testimony of a key prosecution witness unreliable and full of contradictions.

Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh was hearing the case against Vinay, Rahul and Sourabh Sharma, who were accused of assaulting and looting a man during the Karawal Nagar riots in February 2020.

Several other accused in the case have already been released earlier.

In an order dated May 22, the court said, “The prosecution witness (ASI Pratap Singh) was not found to be a credible witness and through his testimony the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused persons. Therefore, all the accused are acquitted of all the charges leveled against them.”

According to the prosecution, complainant Hamid Ali claimed that on 24 February 2020, his son Jafar Zia was returning home on a motorcycle when 20-25 rioters allegedly attacked him near the Karawal Nagar check post, assaulted him with weapons, looted cash and documents and damaged his motorcycle.

The prosecution claimed that the accused were identified during the investigation through discovery, recovery and CCTV footage.

But the injured witness failed to identify the accused during the trial and stated that the attackers covered their faces.

The court observed that the entire case regarding the identification of the accused ultimately rested on the testimony of ASI Pratap Singh, but found major discrepancies between his version and that of the victim.

The judge said that while the victim said all the attackers covered their faces and never mentioned a police response at the scene, the officer claimed he saw some of the attackers without their faces covered and chased them away.

The court also noted discrepancies over how the accused were tracked down and identified.

Since the prosecution did not prove their guilt beyond all doubt, the court acquitted all the accused.

Published – 26 May 2026 20:26 IST