Delhi riots: Court takes cognisance of 2 chargesheets against Tahir, others

A Delhi court has taken cognisance of charge sheets filed against suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain and others in two cases related to the communal violence in north east Delhi in February.

A Delhi court has taken cognisance of charge sheets filed against suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain and others in two separate cases related to the communal violence in north east Delhi in February.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purshotam Pathak said there was sufficient material on record to take cognisance of the offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Hussain, Tanvir Malik, Gulfam, Nazim, Kasim, Shah Alam, Riyasat Ali and Liyakat Ali in the case related to riots in Dayalpur area.

The offences include rioting (section 147 and 148), unlawful assembly (149), attempt to murder (307), and criminal conspiracy (120-B).

The court also took cognisance of the charge sheet against 16 accused, including Hussain, for offences under various sections of the IPC, including abetment (Section 109), obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions (147, 148, 149, 186), assault to deter public servant (353), dacoity (395), mischief by fire or explosive substances (426), house trespass after preparation for assault (452).

The charge sheet was filed in June against Hussain, Liyakat Ali, Riyasat Ali, Shah Alam, Mohd Shadab, Mohd Abid, Rashid Saifi, Gulfam, Arshad Qayyum, Irshad Ahmad, Mohammad Rihan, Tariq Moin Rizvi, Jagar Khan, HaziIshaq Malik, Mohd Illiyas and Khalid Saifi.

The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

In both the cases, the court did not take cognisance of the offences under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between groups based on religion, caste, language etc), 505 (public mischief) and some sections of the Arms Act as the sanction required for proceeding against these has not been obtained by the police yet.

The investigating officer (IO) of Delhi Police informed the court that a letter has been sent to the competent authority, but it is not clear as to how much time it would take for obtaining the sanction.

The police said that after obtaining the sanction it would be submitted to the court through a supplementary charge sheet.

The court noted, in its order passed on October 12, that there was no time frame for obtaining the sanctions and any delay in proceeding further in the matters would unnecessarily defeat the purpose for which the special courts for trial of riot cases have been created.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.