Delhi riots: Presence in mob enough to prove guilt, says court

New Delhi: The first accused in the cases pertaining to the north-east Delhi riots was found guilty by the court due to his sheer presence in the mob despite there being no direct evidence against him, according to the order in the case that was uploaded on the district court’s website on Tuesday

The first accused in the cases pertaining to the north-east Delhi riots was found guilty by the court due to his sheer presence in the mob despite there being no direct evidence against him, according to the order in the case that was uploaded on the district court’s website on Tuesday.

In this file photo taken in 2020, a security personnel patrols near burnt-out and damaged residential premises and shops following clashes between people supporting and opposing a contentious amendment to India's citizenship law, in New Delhi. (AFP)

On Monday, additional sessions judge Virendra Bhatt held a 25-year old man guilty of setting on fire a 73-year old woman’s house in Gokalpuri during the communal violence that erupted in several localities of north-east Delhi in February last year.

The court convicted Dinesh Yadav alias Michael, for being a member of an unlawful assembly, rioting, rioting armed with deadly weapon, house trespass, robbery and mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house. The maximum punishment under these sections entails a jail term of up to ten years.

Holding Yadav guilty, additional sessions judge Virendra Bhatt has said that his presence with a wooden rod in the mob indicated that he shared the common object of the unlawful assembly, i.e to attack the other community.

The court said the fact that the accused also belongs to Hindu community and was present with a wooden rod, in the mob that resorted to violence against the Muslims, indicates that he shared the common object of the unlawful assembly.

“The circumstances in which the members of Muslim community were identified and beaten, their vehicles damaged and their houses broken, robbed and set ablaze by the rioters comprising the members of the other community coupled with the object of the unlawful assembly i.e to assault the Muslims and damage their properties and the fact that the accused was seen among the rioters armed with a wooden rod, are sufficient to indicate beyond any doubt that he too shared the common object..,” the court said while convicting Yadav on Monday.

The judge said even though the testimony of police officers and the two eyewitnesses to the incident revealed that Yadav did not take any active part in vandalising, looting or putting on fire the house of the complainant, however, it cannot be said that he was only a bystander or a passive spectator at the spot of incident.

The judge said that even though there is no evidence on record to indicate the direct commission of offence, yet Yadav is guilty of all those crimes which have been committed by the members of the mob for the reason that he shared the common object of other members of the assembly.

“There is nothing on record to show that the accused had disassociated himself from the unlawful assembly and he did not share the common object of the assembly. It does not appear that his presence at the incident spot was only because he is a resident of that very area..,” the court said in a 13-page order.

Yadav was arrested in June 2020, and the charges in the case were framed on August 1, 2021. There were 12 prosecution witnesses who were examined during the trial.

According to the prosecution, Yadav was an “active member of the riotous mob” and took active participation in vandalising and setting on fire the house of a 73-year-old woman named Manori on the night of February 25.

The woman, who was the complainant in the matter, alleged that a mob of around 150-200 rioters attacked her house when her family was not present, and looted all the articles including a buffalo.

Earlier, in July, a city court passed its first judgment in the riots cases, and acquitted a man accused of rioting, unlawful assembly, and dacoity. Accused in two cases, that were being probed by the local police, were given clean chit by the court even before the trial started.

Communal clashes broke out in north-east Delhi in February 2020, after a standoff between the Citizenship (Amendment) Act supporters and opposers got out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and over 700.