2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits man of theft, arson charges

New Delhi: A court here has acquitted a man of rioting, arson and theft charges, saying there was no evidence to establish that he was part of a riotous mob involved in such incidents.

Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala was hearing a case against Krishan alias Tota, who was accused of being part of an unlawful assembly that torched and looted some handcarts and stalls near Khajuri Chowk in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020, during communal riots.

In an order passed on Monday, the court said none of the victims supported the prosecution's version that Krishan was part of the mob and instead, deposed about not seeing the faces of the rioters.

'Thus, there is no substantive piece of evidence to establish the identity of the accused being one of the rioters responsible for the incidents being probed,' it said.

The court trashed the prosecution's argument that the witnesses had identified Krishan as part of the mob before police.

'Such identification before the police cannot be evidence for the court to assume that the accused was one of the rioters. The question of looking into the credibility of the identification of the accused by those victims could have arisen only when they would have identified the accused before the court...,' it said.

The court said even if it is concluded that a riotous mob was responsible for the alleged incidents, 'there is no evidence to establish that the accused was part of the mob'.

'I find that the charges levelled against the accused in this case are not proved at all. Hence, the accused is hereby acquitted of all the charges levelled against him,' it added.

The Shastri Park police station had registered an FIR against the accused under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) provisions.