Delhi court acquits man of rioting charges, says prosecution falsely cited complainant as witness
New Delhi, Jun 10: A court here acquitted a man of the charges of rioting as it criticised the prosecution for "falsely" citing the complainant as a witness who could identify the accused.
The court, which was hearing a case pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, also observed that the eyewitness testimony of a head constable was "procured and prepared falsely and belatedly to solve this case".
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Shirish Aggarwal was hearing the case against Noor Mohammad, who was accused of being part of a riotous mob that looted and vandalised the complainant's shop in Khajuri Khas on February 24, 2020, during riots.
The court in a recent judgment said if the complainant had seen the offenders and could have identified them, he would have mentioned this in his complaint.
"The fact that the state falsely cited the complainant as a witness who can identify the accused as the offender indicates that the prosecution's case that the offence was committed by the accused Noor Mohammad is false," it said.
The court said it was unsafe to rely on the uncorroborated testimony of the single purported eyewitness, Head Constable Sangram Singh, as his testimony was in contradiction with the other evidence on record, besides "other deficiencies, drawbacks and infirmities" in his testimony.
"It is the tendency of police witnesses to speak in line with the police case. Delhi Police being a disciplined force, a head constable is under the influence of the station house officer (SHO) and the supervisory police officers and it appears that his statement was procured and prepared falsely and belatedly to solve this case," the court said.
Regarding Singh's claim of being an eyewitness, the court said it was hard to believe that a police officer who had witnessed an offence being committed in his area of posting did not make any complaint.
Singh claimed that he tried to stop the mob, but could not control it.
"It is hard to fathom that a police officer who is courageous enough to make efforts for stopping the mob just stood there as a mute spectator when the rioting and plundering was taking place," the court said.
Noting that Singh was not prompt in reporting the matter, nor did he make a video of the incident, the court said, "It is hard to believe that such a person would risk his life to stall the attempts of a mob of rioters. As such, it appears that the testimony of HC Sangram Singh is false."
The court also noted the absence of test identification proceedings (TIP) for the accused's identification by the complainant and said, "It can be inferred that TIP was not carried out since the police was already aware that its case is fabricated and the accused has been shown as the offender only for solving of this case."
It further said the burden of proof on the prosecution is to prove the case by leading convincing evidence, to prove the guilt of accused persons beyond reasonable doubt and an accused person cannot be convicted on the basis of mere probabilities or presumptions.
Suspicion, howsoever grave may be, cannot take the place of proof and every benefit of the doubt goes in favour of the accused persons, the court said.
"Since the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the accused stands acquitted of the offences...," the court said.
The Khajuri Khas police station had registered an FIR against the accused under various IPC provisions, including rioting, unlawful assembly, causing hurt while committing robbery and punishment for committing mischief and thereby causing loss or damage to the amount of Rs fifty or upwards.
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Badruddin Ajmal to move SC against closure of govt madrassas in Assam
Guwahati: AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal has said he will move the Supreme Court against the Assam government's decision to close the state-run madrassas.
The sitting Dhubri MP expressed hope that the apex court will order reopening of all closed madrasas in Assam.
"UP government announced the closure of madrasas and later, the Supreme Court condemned them. With this reference, we will go to the Supreme Court and will get the order from there," Ajmal told reporters on the sidelines of an election campaign meeting on Tuesday.
In December last year, 1,281 Upper Primary Middle English (ME) Madrassas were converted into general ME schools across Assam.
Earlier in April 2021, all the 610 state-run madrassas under the Madrassa Board were converted into upper primary, high and higher secondary schools with no change of status, pay, allowances and service conditions of teaching and non-teaching staff.
In December 2020, The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995 and The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018 were repealed.
This move of the first BJP-led Assam government paved the way for all state-funded madrassas to shut down and transform them into general schools.
