2020 Delhi riots: Delhi court hands life sentence to ex-AAP councillor in IB staffer murder case

On February 25, 2020, 26-year-old Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma walked out of his home in Khajuri Khas during the peak of communal violence in northeast Delhi, attempting to calm clashing mobs near Chand Bagh Pulia. Within moments, an armed crowd abducted him, subjected him to a relentless assault, and dumped his body in a nearby drain.

Six years later, a Delhi court on July 31 sentenced former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain and four co-convicts — Javed, Anas, Nazim, and Kasim — to life imprisonment for Sharma’s murder, bringing closure to one of the most high-profile trials arising from the 2020 riots.

Pronouncing the quantum of sentence at Karkardooma Courts, Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh rejected the Delhi Police’s plea for capital punishment. While observing that the "manner of the crime was of utmost brutality" and describing the sequence of events as "nauseating and sickening," the court held that the prosecution failed to prove the convicts were beyond the possibility of reform and rehabilitation.

The sentencing follows the court’s July 13 verdict, which found Hussain and the four co-accused guilty under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 302 (murder), 365 (kidnapping or abduction), 153A (promoting enmity between groups), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), and 188 (disobedience to public order). The court acquitted Hussain of criminal conspiracy charges under Section 120B and cleared six other accused of all charges.

During arguments on the quantum of sentence, the prosecution had pressed for the death penalty, describing the killing as a "rarest of rare" offense. Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey highlighted the severity of the attack, telling the court:

"Ankit Sharma was abducted and relentlessly assaulted in a hapless manner. A total of 51 injuries were made upon the victim and 18 of them were through sharp-edged weapons. It is not a case where somebody was stabbed once or thrice."

Countering the prosecution's demand, defense counsel Rajiv Mohan argued that capital punishment could not be applied blanketly and pointed out that mitigating factors must be weighed alongside aggravating circumstances. Advocating against the death sentence, Hussain submitted through his counsel:

"No person has directly attributed me during the trial, and the court has found no evidence of any criminal conspiracy behind the incident. Injuries are not the criteria to decide the death sentence."

The case originated from FIR 65 of 2020 registered at Dayalpur police station following a complaint by Ankit Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar. The investigation established that Sharma was dragged into a building belonging to Hussain before being brutally assaulted and discarded into the Khajuri Khas drain, where his body was recovered the next day.

By awarding life imprisonment to all five convicts, the court concluded the trial, holding each guilty party accountable for their role in the mob violence that claimed the young officer's life.