New Delhi, August 26, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain has approached the Delhi High Court challenging his conviction and life imprisonment in the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the North-East Delhi riots of February 2020.
Hussain’s appeal is likely to come up before the High Court in the coming week. He was among five men — Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim being the others — sentenced to life imprisonment by the Karkardooma Court for Sharma’s murder.
Nazim and Kasim had earlier challenged their conviction and sentence before the Delhi High Court. Their appeals were heard by a Division Bench comprising Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Vikas Mahajan.
During the proceedings, Delhi Police informed the High Court that it was also preparing to challenge the acquittal of six other accused in the case. Special Counsel Rajat Nair told the court that the prosecution was in the process of filing an appeal against the acquittals.
The High Court took note of the submission and issued notice to Delhi Police on the appeals filed by Nazim and Kasim. Their pleas seeking suspension of sentence and bail have been listed for consideration on December 2.
The Karkardooma Court, presided over by Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh, had convicted all five men of murder, kidnapping, disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant, promoting enmity between different groups, rioting and rioting while armed with a deadly weapon.
The court acquitted them of the charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code. Six other accused were also acquitted after the court held that the prosecution had failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
While seeking the death penalty, Delhi Police had described Sharma’s killing as cold-blooded and brutal and cited the 51 injuries found on his body. The defence opposed capital punishment, arguing that the case did not meet the “rarest of rare” threshold. It also argued that there was no evidence of criminal conspiracy and urged the court to consider Hussain’s prospects of reformation.
While sentencing the five men to life imprisonment, the trial court described the offence as a “very serious” incident and said Sharma had been “brutally murdered”. It observed that his body was left “like an animal” and that the crime had “shaken the conscience of society”.
Sharma’s body was recovered from a drain in the Khajuri Khas area on February 26, 2020. According to the prosecution, he was caught in the violence near his residence on February 25 when clashes erupted between two groups near Chand Bagh Pulia. He was allegedly abducted by a mob, assaulted and stabbed before his body was dumped in a nearby drain.
An FIR was registered at Dayalpur police station on a complaint by Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, who said his son had gone out to purchase household items but failed to return.
The communal violence in North-East Delhi in February 2020 claimed 53 lives, injured several others and caused extensive property damage.
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