Cong leader, others cleared of rioting charges

Delhi Congress MLA Talvinder Singh Marwah and six others got a clean chit from a city court on Tuesday.

Delhi Congress MLA Talvinder Singh Marwah and six others got a clean chit from a city court on Tuesday.

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They were accused of rioting and injuring policemen during campaigning in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections.

A case was registered against Marwah and others alleging that the Congress leader had led a crowd of close to 700 people who had broken window panes of Sun Light police post here.

The crowd reportedly pelted stones as well, injuring two policemen.

“All the witnesses have stated that the accused (Marwah) was delivering provocative speeches and the crowd started shouting slogans but nowhere have they said anything about the exact words used,” Additional Sessions Judge S C Rajan said.

The court absolved Marwah, the MLA from Jangpura, and others stating that the prosecution failed to prove as to how he had instigated the crowd.

It also noted that the prosecution witnesses could not name those who had pelted stones and injured the two Delhi police Constables on September 6, 1999, at Sriniwaspuri.

Out of the 15 prosecution witnesses, a Delhi police constable, who was injured in the incident, had turned hostile. The prosecution said the crowd, armed with rods and swords, was protesting the preventive arrest of Congress workers.