Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved the prosecution of six individuals charged in a 2020 North East Delhi communal riots case, which resulted in the death of a man from a gunshot wound. The investigation revealed that the violence was the result of a broad conspiracy that was devised under the farce of democratic opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
A 25-year-old named Shahid who was a resident of Gali No. 17 in New Mustafabad, passed away on 24 February 2020 as a result of an injury he received after getting shot.
The LG authorised the prosecution to proceed in the case FIR No. 84/2020 filed on 1 March 1 at police station Dayal Pur in Delhi against Mohd Firoz, Chand Mohd, Rais Khan, Md Junaid, Irshad, and Akil Ahmed for the commission of offences prohibited by sections 153 A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code.
According to Section 153A, “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony” is illegal. This is punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine, or both.
The statements conducing to public mischief are covered under Section 505 (1), which seeks to legitimise prosecution in these situations. Anyone who makes publishes or disseminates any statement, rumour, or report, “with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the state or against the public tranquillity, or with intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community, shall be punished with imprisonment, which may extend to 6 (three years), or with fine, or with both.
Six of the accused who were apprehended in the case admitted to taking part in the violence. They had broken into Saptarishi Ispat and Alloys Pvt. Ltd.’s building forcibly and had looted the company’s office together with other rioters.
The victim was shot on the roof of the business at 25 Foota Chand Bagh, on the main Wazirabad Road in Delhi, not far from Chand Bagh Mazar during the unrest that transpired 2 years back on 24 February. in the national capital.
The matter was being investigated by the crime branch, which questioned the witnesses and assessed the evidence gathered, including the popular TV channel footage that went viral on social media.
The authorisation for prosecution under Section 196 (1) of the 1973 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been approved by the Lieutenant Governor. The IPC Sections 144, 145, 147, 148, 149, 153A, 302, 395, 397, 452, 454,505, 506, 188, and 120B were the ones that the FIR No. 84/2020 was submitted under.
Notably, the 2020 Delhi riots, or North East Delhi riots, were multiple waves of bloodshed, property destruction, and violence in North East Delhi, beginning on 23 February 2020.
The mayhem was planned by Muslim extremists including leaders of political parties like Aam Aadmi Party and Congress in the name of opposing the Citizen Amendment Bill which offered refugee to oppressed religious minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs and Christians from the neighbouring Islamic countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
