First conviction in Delhi Riots case: Man convicted for setting house of Muslim family on fire
New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Tuesday convicted one person of rioting and other charges in the 2020 Delhi Riots cases. This is the first conviction in the 2020 Delhi Riots cases.
The court observed that merely the fact he was not seen resorting to vandalism and looting did not mean he was a bystander. Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat also underlined that there was nothing on record to show that the accused person was not associated with unlawful assembly or to show that he did not share a common object.
Dinesh Yadav was convicted for offences under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), 457 (house trespass), 392 (robbery), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy a house, etc.) read with Section 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code.
The prosecution alleged that a mob of around 200 rioters gathered in front of the house of the complainant. The mob then broke into the house and robbed the house before setting some of the material in the house of fire. The complainant and her children had to jump to the terrace of the adjacent house in order to save their lives.
Yadav denied all the charges, saying he was being framed. He also chose not to lead any evidence in his defence. His counsel contended that no active role had been attributed to his client by the witnesses, indicating that he was only a bystander and did not share an object of the alleged unlawful assembly.
"The fact that the accused also belongs to the Hindu community and was present in the mob armed with a wooden rod which mob resorted to violence against the Muslims, indicates that he shared the common object of the unlawful assembly.
“The mere fact that he was not seen entering complainant's house or vandalising or looting or putting it on fire, does not mean that he was a mere bystander. There is nothing on record to show that the accused had disassociated himself from the unlawful assembly and he did not share the common object of the assembly.” The Court said.
Yadav was stated to have been seen among the rioters - a fact sufficient to indicate “beyond any doubt that he too shared the common object of the assembly” having knowledge of the mob’s intention.
Arguments on the quantum of the sentence will be heard on December 12.
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TikTok shuts down as US ban takes effect
Houston: TikTok’s app effectively shut down in the US, just hours before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform was set to go into effect. The app was shut down on Saturday.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” a message reads when American users open the app.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
While the Biden administration dismissed TikTok’s shutdown threat as a "stunt" and handed enforcement to the Trump administration, TikTok maintained that without clear assurances, it had no choice but to suspend its services in the US.
An internal email to employees stated that President Trump has expressed his intention to work on a solution to restore TikTok once he assumes office on January 20th. TikTok assured teams are working to resume services as soon as possible.
On Saturday evening, a warning appeared in both TikTok and CapCut apps at 9 PM Easten time:
"We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th, forcing us to temporarily suspend our services. We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible. Thank you for your support. Stay tuned."
By 10:30 PM ET, users were blocked from accessing both apps, with TikTok displaying a message that the app "isn’t available right now," but expects resolution under President-elect Trump.
It comes after days of speculation and confusion over the platform’s future.
The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the divest-or-ban law, which gave TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance until Sunday to divest from the app.
The law directed Apple and Google to remove the service from app stores. It also required web-hosting firms, including TikTok's back-end cloud provider, Oracle, to stop supporting the app or face penalties that could reach into the billions of dollars, NPR reported.
Trump said Saturday that he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day extension.
“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully,” Trump said in a call with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “It’s a very big situation.”
The law, which passed Congress with wide bipartisan majorities and was signed by President Biden in April, allows the president to provide a 90-day extension, as long as progress is being made toward a divestiture.
Following Friday’s Supreme Court decision, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanked the president-elect for his commitment to finding a solution to keep the app accessible in the US, Chew who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, is set to attend Monday’s inauguration, the Hill reported.
While the app’s message and Trump’s remarks suggest the app could be revived in the US soon, it remains unclear exactly what that would look like and how long a divestiture deal could take to hammer out.
JUST IN - TikTok officially goes offline in the US. pic.twitter.com/QpJU97grSh
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 19, 2025
