2020 Riots: Delhi HC Reserves Order on Tahir Hussain’s Bail Plea in IB Officer Ankit Sharma Murder Case
Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and ten others were booked for “killing an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer, namely Ankit Sharma,” during the Northeast Delhi riots of 2020;
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, reserved its order on the bail plea of former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, accused in the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
A bench led by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna pronounced the order.
On March 12, 2025, the trial court refused to grant bail to Hussain, stating that it was not convinced by the applicant's argument that there had been a significant change so as to warrant reconsideration of previous court rulings. The court therefore rejected the bail plea.
The case pertains to a FIR registered at Dayalpur Police Station on the basis of the complaint made by Ankit Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar. He alleged that on February 25, 2020, his son, who was posted in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), had come back from the office and gone out, and did not return after a long time.
The complainant father came to know from local boys that his son Ankit Sharma had been “thrown” into Khajuri Khas “nala” (drain) from the masjid in Chand Bagh pulia after “he was killed.” His body was recovered from the nala.
The deceased’s father, in his complaint, had raised strong suspicion that his son Ankit Sharma had been killed by Tahir Hussain and others, who had gathered in his office, and that after killing his son, his body was thrown into the nala from the masjid.
On March 24, 2023, a Delhi court framed murder charges against former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain and ten others for “killing an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer, namely, Ankit Sharma” during the Northeast Delhi riots of 2020.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala framed charges against Hussain and ten others, namely, Haseen @ Mullaji @ Salman, Nazim, Kasim, Sameer Khan, Anas, Firoz, Javed, Gulfam, Shoaib Alam @ Bobby, and Muntajim @ Musa.
All the accused persons have been charged under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence), and 302 (murder) read with 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Hussain has also been charged under Sections 109 (abetment), 114 (abettor present when offence is committed), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC.
In its order, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala observed, “He (Hussain) instigated the mob when Ankit came forward towards this mob. The conspiracy need not be specific to kill Ankit. When the accused persons were acting in pursuance to a conspiracy and common object to kill Hindus, it covered killing of Ankit as well for the reasons that Ankit was killed because he was a Hindu.”
Violence broke out in Northeast Delhi in 2020 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which followed widespread clashes between the supporters and opponents of the Act. Several incidents of stone-pelting, arson, and violent protests were reported, which had left nearly 53 dead and injured thousands.
Case Title: Mohd Tahir Hussain v/s State of NCT of Delhi
Hearing Date: 13 August 2025
Bench: Justice Neena Bansal Krishna.