Delhi Court convicts 17 people including two sitting MLAs for attacking Delhi Police

A Delhi Court has convicted 17 people including 2 sitting MLAs for attacking Delhi Police. They have been convicted for rioting (u/s 147), obstructing public servant from discharging public functions (u/s 186), voluntary causing hurt to public servants (u/s 332) & unlawful assembly (u/s 149) of IPC.

According to Vaibhav Mehta, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate – 03 of the Rouse Avenue District Court, convicts were members of an unlawful assembly & some members voluntarily caused hurt to public servant Ct. Babu Lal to deter him from his duty and also stopped Ct. Vikas, SI Ajay Kumar & other police staff members from doing their duties and committed the offence of rioting. As per the impact report, Ct. Babu Lal was injured in the incident pursuant to the present FIR and he sustained injuries on his right shoulder for which his surgery was “still pending” which was estimated to cost about Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 60,000.

As per court, Sanjeev Jha of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was not only the “active participant” of unlawful assembly but was in fact leading mob & instigating & provoking it with “common object” of unlawful assembly to “teach the police a lesson by show of criminal force”.

Assistant Public Prosecutor argued that the convicts were found with committing offences u/S 147/186/332/149 IPC and that the convicts should be punished with maximum punishment. Counsel for defence argued that convict persons have a family to support and had been facing trial since 2015 and so may be given a chance to reform themselves as most of them were first time offenders and belonged to decent families.

Defence counsel for accused Akhileshpati Tripathi argued that he has a family to support including wife and two minor children and he also has been facing trial since 2015. It was further submitted by the defence counsel of Akhileshpati Tripathi that he is involved in another case and has been released on probation in that case. He submitted that he may be given a 2nd chance to reform himself while reling upon judgment of Lakha Ram vs State of Rajasthan & Anr to support his submissions.

The remaining convicts also relied upon other judgments of Mohd Hashim vs State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors and Lakhvir Singh & Ors vs State of Punjab & Anr. Defence counsel further submitted that in case if the convicts are not released on probation, then they may be admonished. It was further submitted by defence counsel that the convicts are ready to pay fine or pay compensation to the victims as per law.

With respect to convict named Sanjeev Jha, court observed that he was not only the active participant of the unlawful assembly but was in fact leading the mob and instigating and provoking it with the common object of unlawful assembly to teach the police a lesson by show of criminal force. “The action of the abovesaid convict played the role of adding fuel to the fire thereby aggravating the already tense situation as a result of which the crowd got out of control and started pelting stones and caused injuries to police officials,” the court observed.

The court sentenced him to undergo Simple Imprisonment for a period of 03 months for the offence u/S 332 IPC r/w 149 IPC. The convict was further sentenced to pay fine of Rs.10,000 to be deposited in the court for the abovesaid offence.

In case of Akhileshpati Tripathi, the court was of the view that his role was similar to the convict Sanjeev Jha and he also was not just part of the unlawful assembly but was in fact leading the crowd and was provoking and instigating them and as a result of which the crowd got out of control and started pelting stones on the police officials as a result of which many police officials got injured. “If not for the provocative language and support of convict MLA Akhileshpati Tripathi, the crowd would not have had the courage to beat up police officials and so considering the totality of facts and circumstances and also considering the weight that the provocative words carried, I am of the considered opinion that the convict is not entitled to benefit of Probation of Offenders Act,” the court observed.

The court sentenced him to simple imprisonment for a period of 6 months for the offence u/S 332 IPC r/w 149 IPC. The convict was further sentenced to pay fine of Rs.10,000 to be deposited in the court for the abovesaid offence.

Considering the totality of facts and circumstances, court observed that convicts namely Ashok Kumar, Ravi Prakash Jha, Ismail Islam, Manoj Kumar and Vijay Pratap Singh were arrested at the spot and were found to be involved in stone pelting and raising slogans against police officials and were also involved in injuring police officials and they were part of the unlawful assembly with the common object of the assembly being to teach the police a lesson by show of criminal force. Court found it reasonable to sentence the convicts to undergo simple imprisonment for 3 months and fine of Rs. 10,000 each.

With respect to convicts Narender Singh Rawat, Raju Malik, Kishore Kumar, Lalit Mishra, and Jagdish Chander Joshi, court was of the view that the convicts were found to be raising slogans against the Delhi and were provoking and instigating the crowd. Court also noticed that simple injuries were sustained by the above-said convicts due to action of Delhi police while trying to control the unruly mob and so considering the objectives of Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 court was of the view that this was a case fit for reformation and rehabilitation of the convicts rather than sending them to jail.

With respect to convicts namely Balram Jha, and Neeraj Pathak, court was of the view that the abovesaid convicts were part of the unlawful assembly and were involved in rioting and obstructed the police officials and caused hurt to them. The abovesaid convicts were found to have assaulted Ct. Babu Lal and were found to have mercilessly beaten Ct. Babu Lal by putting him on the ground and them given him fists and leg blows as a result of which he sustained injuries on his shoulder. Court found it reasonable in order to meet the ends of justice in the present case to sentence the convicts to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year for offence u/S 332 IPC r/w 149 IPC. The convicts were further sentenced to pay fine of Rs.20,000 each to be deposited in the court for the abovesaid offence.

Case Title: State vs. Gora Chand Dass & Ors.