A Delhi court recently acquitted eight Hindu men in connection with the death of a man during the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh of the Karkardooma Courts acquitted Kuldeep Singh, Harjeet Singh alias Happy, Rahul alias Ajay, Sachin Rastogi, Bharat Bhushan alias Lucky, Sandeep alias Sanjeev, Dharmender alias Dham, and Sachin Gupta alias Mopi through a judgment dated October 15, 2026. The accused were charged with the murder of a man named Babbu, who was attacked during a mob violence at Khajuri Chowk.
Babbu was admitted to JPC Hospital in an injured condition on February 25, 2026. He was later shifted to GTB Hospital, where he died two days later on February 27, 2026. His brother said in his statement that Babbu, who was an auto driver, was returning from work on February 25, 2026, when he was fatally attacked by a violent mob at Khajuri Chowk. An FIR was registered based on the statement of the brother of the victim.
The prosecution’s case was that the accused were part of an unlawful assembly that had gathered at Khajuri Chowk on February 25, 2026. It alleged that the accused were armed and that they fatally attacked the victim, who succumbed to his injuries later. The prosecution also alleged that the accused acted in a way that promoted enmity between communities, and that they defied prohibitory order under Section 144 Cr.P.C. The defence counsel rejected the prosecution’s case, terming it a bundle of lies. The defence also dismissed the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, saying that they were “planted” and were introduced in the case at later stages.
The main charge sheet filed in the case named 16 accused. A first supplementary charge sheet filed on September 28, 2020 added Dharmender @ Dham, Sachin Gupta @ Moppi and Sachin Rastogi. Subsequently, a second supplementary charge sheet was filed under Section 144 Cr.P.C. prohibitory order, the Section 195 sanction, and related documents. On March 18, 2025, 11 Muslim accused were discharged, and the same day, charges were framed against the eight Hindu accused under Sections 148 r/w 149, 188, 302 r/w 149 and 153A IPC.
The prosecution had examined a total of 25 witnesses, who included three public eyewitnesses and three police eyewitnesses. Mohd. Javed @ Munna (PW4), Sabir (PW5) and Imran (PW10) were presented as public eyewitnesses. However, the court found that none of them supported the prosecution’s case. Mohd. Javed said he only saw the injured man on a cart and did not see anyone attack him. Sabir’s testimony detailed his shop being looted, and Imran said he himself was beaten by the mob and noticed nothing else. All three denied the police statements the prosecutor put to them. As a result, the court concluded that they had not seen the assault.
After the eyewitnesses’ testimonies failed to support the prosecution’s charges, its case entirely rested on the testimonies of three police witnesses: Ct. Amit (PW3), HC Bhupender (PW9), and ASI Anil Kumar (PW15), and a video, as claimed by the prosecution, captured the attack on the victim. The video was supported by another witness named Danish, who did not himself witness the alleged assault.
Out of the police witnesses, only ASI Anil Kumar claimed to have witnessed the victim being attacked with lathis. But the court found his testimony unsafe to rely on without corroboration.
Regarding the video evidence, the court held that it was not possible to identify the accused on the basis of the video as it did not show any faces clearly. After examining all the witnesses’ statements and evidence on record, the court concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. The court found that the witnesses’ statements and the evidence could not prove that the accused were part of the violent mob and that they fatally attacked the victim.
