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A Delhi court has acquitted three people accused of rioting, arson and unlawful assembly during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, saying that the prosecution failed to prove their guilt in the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh was hearing a case against Sagar, Devender Gautam and Anmol who were accused of rioting, arson, dacoity and provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act for being part of a riotous mob during the Delhi riots. In an order dated February 24, the court said, "I find that there is no evidence by which the court can arrive at a finding of guilt against the accused persons. The accused are accordingly found entitled to the benefit of doubt. All the accused are acquitted of all the charges framed against them." According to the prosecution, the three were part of a riotous mob involved in violence in Milan Garden and adjoining areas of Sonia Vihar in northeast Delhi during the communal violence on February 2
A Delhi court on Saturday sent the four Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, who were arrested for protesting at the AI Impact Summit venue a day ago, to five-day police custody. Judicial Magistrate Ravi allowed the Delhi Police's plea seeking five days of custodial interrogation of the accused persons. A detailed order is awaited. The arrested protesters were Krishna Hari, national secretary of Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, IYC state secretary, Bihar; Ajay Kumar, IYC state president, Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana. Delhi Police sought five-day custody of the arrested protesters, arguing that they raised anti-national slogans and wore T-shirts with objectionable images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the event venue. It said the mobile phones of the accused persons were required to be recovered and, as they were from different states, custodial interrogation was necessary. Counsel for the police argued that it was a "serious" matter. An attempt wa
A Delhi court on Thursday rejected the bail applications of the three Delhi riots larger conspiracy case accused - Salim Malik, Athar Khan and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain. Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai was hearing the bail applications of the accused and denied them bail. The trio had filed their bail applications after the Supreme Court granted bail to five other accused in the same case, contending that they are facing similar charges and seeking parity. These three accused have been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) over their alleged involvement in the 2020 riots. Athar, a former call centre employee, has been accused of being one of the main organisers of the protest at Chand Bagh in northeast Delhi and allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches there. According to the Delhi Police's Special Cell, Athar allegedly participated in secret meetings, in which he said that the "time has come to burn Delhi" and coordinated the destruction
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi did not appear before the MP-MLA court here on Monday in connection with a defamation case against him, following which the court fixed February 20 as the next date of hearing, a case lawyer said. Gandhi, the Raebareli MP, was scheduled to record his statement before the court. However, his counsel Kashi Prasad Shukla informed the court that the Congress leader could not be present as he was in Kerala. Taking note of the submission, MP-MLA court judge Shubham Verma granted Gandhi a final opportunity to appear in person and fixed February 20 for further proceedings, he said. Shukla later told reporters that Gandhi was unable to attend the hearing due to a pre-engagement in Kerala and was likely to be present on the next date. The defamation case was filed in October 2018 by local BJP functionary Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj in Kotwali Dehat area of Sultanpur district. Mishra alleged that during electio
The case of fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi challenging his extradition will come up for hearing before Belgium's supreme court -- the Court of Cassation -- on December 9, officials said on Thursday. Choksi has challenged before Belgium's top court an October 17 ruling of the Antwerp Court of Appeal that upheld India's request for his extradition while terming it "enforceable". In response to queries by the PTI, Advocaat-generaal Henri Vanderlinden said the Court of Cassation will hear the case on December 9. The Court of Cassation only checks the decision of the court of appeal "on legal aspects" such as whether the court of appeal correctly applied the legal dispositions, and whether they follow the right procedure, he told PTI. "So, new facts or evidence cannot be placed," he said. "The proceedings are, in essence, a written one. As a rule, all cases are heard. If the court refuses to admit the appeal, it will be on legal grounds, for example, the person who filed the ...
A court in Antwerp on Friday cleared the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, noting that his arrest by the Belgian authorities on India's request was valid, officials in the know of the development said. The order has come as a strong validation for India's case seeking his extradition, with Choksi having the option of appealing against the decision in a superior court in Belgium, they said. "The order has come in our favour. The court has termed his arrest by the Belgian authorities on India's request valid. The first legal step in getting him extradited is now clear," a senior official said. Belgian prosecutors were aided by Indian officials from the external affairs ministry and the CBI in putting forth strong arguments on Choksi's alleged crime in orchestrating a Rs 13,000 crore scam in the Punjab National Bank in collusion with his nephew Nirav Modi. The prosecutors told the court that he remains a flight risk and cannot be released from prison, the officials sai
A special court here has pointed out several critical fundamental lapses in the arrest of an ED official by the Central Bureau of Investigation over alleged bribery after ordering his immediate release. Rejecting the CBI's plea for transit remand of Vishal Deep, assistant director of Enforcement Directorate's Shimla unit, special judge B Y Phad has said that the allegations against him are not well founded. The CBI's Chandigarh unit arrested Deep from Mumbai on Tuesday on corruption charges stemming from the ED's probe against Himalayan group of professional institutions. The CBI claimed Deep demanded Rs 1.1 crore bribe from Himalayan group of professional institutions chairman Rajnish Bansal for not arresting him in a money laundering case being probed by the ED. The court gave the relief to Deep on Wednesday and a detailed copy of the order was made available subsequently. In his order, the special judge noted that the prosecution's failure to produce the case diary shakes its .