Delhi Court acquits ten accused in 2020 Delhi Pogrom case, says prosecution failed to prove charges
Delhi: In a landmark decision, the Karkardooma Courts in Delhi have acquitted ten individuals who had been charged in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots. The court ruled that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate the charges against the defendants.
The acquitted individuals are Mohammad Shahnawaz, Mohammad Shoaib, Shahrukh, Rashid, Azad, Ashraf Ali, Parvez, Mohammad Faisal, Rashid, and Mohammad Tahir. They faced charges of rioting, arson, theft, and vandalism in the Shiv Vihar area of Delhi.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Narender Kumar on March 1, 2020, at the Gokalpuri police station. Kumar alleged that a mob had vandalized his shop and subsequently looted his home, stealing gold, silver, and cash, while also setting his furniture ablaze. In total, 17 witnesses were examined, including 12 police officers.
However, the prosecution's case faltered due to inconsistencies and contradictions in witness testimonies. One key witness, who owned a shop near the incident site, testified that his shop remained unharmed. This contradicted earlier statements from a head constable and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), who had claimed the shop was burned.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala noted that the discrepancies in the testimonies of the police witnesses undermined the credibility of the prosecution's case. “It is unsafe to rely on the evidence provided by these witnesses to confirm that all the accused were involved in the attacks,” the judge stated.
The defense team, including advocates Saleem Malik and Abdul Ghaffar under the guidance of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind’s Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani, successfully argued that the testimonies of key witnesses were unreliable. Many witnesses either retracted their statements or failed to identify the accused, further weakening the prosecution’s case.
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Railway lines as fence could cut cost of barricading to curb man-elephant conflicts: MP Wadiyar
Bengaluru, Sept 17: MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has suggested that to bring down the exorbitant cost barricading – estimated to cost around Rs 1.3 to Rs 1.5 crore per kilometre – railway lines could be used to construct fences on Tuesday.
Wadiyar took to X to share the letter he had sent to Union Environment Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
Stating that “railway (lines) barricading” is proving to be an effective way to restrict the movement of elephants, he suggested that this should be taken up on a large scale.
“Upon consultation with the relevant authorities, it has come to my understanding that the cost of barricading per kilometre comes to Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 1.5 crore. Given that the border of the forests in my constituency stretches to over 400 km, with around 280 km of forest border requiring immediate barricading, the cost of such an exercise will reach Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore,” he wrote in his letter.
He said the environment ministry could make a direct request with the railway ministry for an allocation of railway lines, thus reducing the cost of the project to just that of labour cost.
“The benefits of this initiative are manifold, from reduction of human casualties, protection of property and livelihood, to conservation of elephants and, most importantly, promoting human-elephant coexistence, which is the need of the hour,” he added.
Working towards safer coexistence in Mysore-Kodagu! Submitted proposal to Union Environment Forest & Climate change Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav Ji for railway barricading to reduce elephant-human conflicts. pic.twitter.com/VjOWIF1TTC
— Yaduveer Wadiyar (@yaduveerwadiyar) September 17, 2024
