2020 Delhi riots: Prosecution pulled up for not submitting evidence to identify accused

A court in Delhi has pulled up the prosecution for not submitting a video pertaining to the identification of the accused in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi riots case.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala, hearing a case on Friday, said it was "unfortunate" that the prosecution was "befooling" the court. He also warned the investigating agency not to repeat such conduct in future.

The matter pertains to a case registered by the Dayalpur police station against Mohammed Farooq and others where the court had asked the prosecution to submit a video for identification of the accused.

"It is unfortunate that till date, the Special Public Prosecutor and Sub-Inspector Rajiv (the Investigating Officer) have been befooling this court in the name of the pendency of this video and the report before FSL, without actually having any information in respect of the same. The same should not be repeated in future," the ASJ said in an order passed on Friday. 

He said the prosecution's evidence in the case was stopped because of the absence of the video relied upon by the investigating agency to identify the accused. 

Noting the reports submitted before the court, the ASJ said it was "apparent" that a mirror copy of the video was "yet to be prepared and obtained" from the FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory).

"There has not been any concrete action so far, but it is expected that at least now the Station House Officer (SHO) shall make his endeavour to get this mirror copy at the earliest possible time (from the FSL)...," he said. 

In the last hearing on July 6, the court had underlined that the video was "relevant" for the present case.

The matter has been posted for further proceedings on October 9.