Court discharges 3 in Delhi riots case citing failure of investigating agency

“When history will look back at the worst communal riots since partition in Delhi, it is the failure of investigating agency to conduct proper investigation by using latest scientific methods, will surely torment the sentinels of democracy,” observed a Delhi Court on Thursday while discharging three accused persons in a Delhi Riots case.
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav discharged three accused including Former AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain’s brother Shah Alam, Rashid Saifi and Shadab in FIR 93/2020.
Pulling up the investigating agency, the Court observed that the case appeared to have been solved merely by filing this charge sheet “without any real effort being made to trace out eye witnesses, real accused persons and technical evidence” in the matter.
“This Court cannot permit such cases to meander mindlessly in the corridors of judicial system, sweeping away precious judicial time of this Court when the same is open and shut case,” the Court said It added: “The casualty in the matter is pain and agony suffered by complainant/victim, whose case has virtually remained unsolved; callous and indolent investigation; lack of supervision by superior officers of investigation and criminal wastage of the time and money of the tax payer.” The FIR was registered under sec. 147, 148, 149, 427, 380, 454, 436, 435 and 120-B of IPC on the basis of two complaints alleging that a shop was burnt, attacked and looted during the Delhi riots.
While looking at the facts of the case, the Court took note of the fact that the accused persons were neither specifically named in the FIR nor any specific role was assigned to them in the matter. It was also observed that there was no independent eye witness account of the incident available on record.