New Delhi, July 27, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A Delhi court on Monday reserved its order on the quantum of sentence for former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and four others convicted in the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of the Karkardooma Courts said the order on sentencing would be pronounced on July 31 after hearing detailed arguments from both the prosecution and defence sides.
Seeking the maximum punishment, the Delhi Police urged the court to award the death penalty, describing Sharma’s killing as a brutal and pre-planned act. The prosecution argued that the 51 injuries found on Sharma’s body reflected the severity of the attack.
The police counsel told the court that those seeking leniency had shown no mercy towards the victim and argued that no attempt was made to take Sharma to a hospital after the assault.
The prosecution further submitted that members of an unlawful assembly are responsible for offences committed during the incident and argued that Hussain should have intervened to save Sharma instead of being associated with the mob.
Opposing the demand for capital punishment, defence lawyers representing Hussain and co-convicts Nazir, Asim, Javed and Anas argued that the case did not qualify as a “rarest of rare” matter warranting the death sentence.
The defence pointed out that out of 11 accused, only five were convicted after examination of 91 witnesses, while the remaining accused were acquitted. It also argued that charges of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were not established during the trial.
The defence maintained that although Hussain’s presence in the area was established, there was no evidence proving his involvement in the actual killing or any conspiracy to murder Sharma. It also urged the court to consider the possibility of reformation while deciding the sentence.
Earlier this month, the court convicted Hussain, Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim under various IPC provisions, including murder, kidnapping, rioting, promoting enmity between groups and offences related to unlawful assembly. However, all five were acquitted of the charge of criminal conspiracy.
The court had also acquitted six other accused, observing that the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The case relates to the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in the Khajuri Khas area on February 26, 2020, during the communal violence in North-East Delhi.
According to the prosecution, Sharma was allegedly caught by a mob near Chand Bagh Pulia on February 25, 2020, assaulted and stabbed before his body was dumped into a drain.
An FIR was registered at Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Sharma’s father Ravinder Kumar, who had reported that his son had gone out to buy household items and did not return.
The North-East Delhi violence in February 2020 claimed 53 lives, injured several people and resulted in extensive damage to property.
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