A Delhi Court on Saturday (October 10, 2026) convicted former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain for abetting rioting in a case linked to the ghastly 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots. The conviction order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of the Karkardooma Court, who acquitted Hussain of other charges.
The court also acquitted co-accused Md Shadab, Shah Alam, Riyasat Ali, Gulfam, Md Rihan, Arshad Qayyum and Irshad Ahmed of all the charges. The case in question stems from an FIR registered at Dayalpur police station under Sections 147, 148, 149, 427, 436, 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The FIR was lodged based on a complaint filed by a shop owner named Irshad Ali, who said that his shop was looted and set ablaze on February 24, 2020, causing losses of ₹17–18 lakh in stolen goods and ₹10 lakh in property damage. A second complainant, Mohd Zahid, said that rioters raised slogans in support of Tahir Hussain and said that they were with him. Hussain was identified by two Delhi Police constables during investigation.
Hussain was convicted for the murder of IB officer Ankit Sharma
Earlier in July, Hussain and three others were convicted and granted life imprisonment for the killing of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the February 2020 anti-Hindu riots in Delhi. The three other convicts were named Nazim, Kasim, Javed, and Anas.
The conviction and sentencing order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of the Karkardooma Courts only. The judge had also sentenced Hussain and the others for related offences, including rioting, rioting with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and promoting enmity between groups. Additionally, the court imposed a fine of five lakh rupees on Tahir Hussain.
While pronouncing the sentence against Hussain and the other convicts, the court pointed out that the murder of the IB officer was committed with “utmost brutality“. It observed that “the savagery did not end with the murder. His body was dragged into a drain nearby as if the hatred was still not satiated”.
The anti-Hindu riots in the national capital broke out after prolonged protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act. The riots left 53 people dead and hundreds injured. Properties, shops and places of worship were extensively damaged. Hussain, who was then an AAP councillor from the area, was suspended by the party after his name surfaced in the case. A Muslim mob pelted stones and petrol bombs, and fired shots from the rooftop of the office of Tahir Hussain during the riots.
After his name emerged in connection with the riots, Hussain tried to claim innocence by playing the victim. He released a video in which he claimed that he had made several calls to the PCR (Police Control Room) seeking help because the rioters were trying to harm him.
