Delhi Riots: Court Acquits Six Men Accused Of Rioting Outside Mosque
In a scathing verdict, a Delhi Court on Monday acquitted six men accused of arson near Azizia Masjid at Gamri Extension during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots, sharply criticizing the police for “foisting a false case” and “trampling” on the rights of the accused.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Praveen Singh of Karkardooma Courts said the investigation was marred by “egregious padding of evidence” by the Investigating Officer (IO), calling the probe a “shoddy attempt to work out a case.”
The six men; Ishu Gupta, Prem Prakash, Raj Kumar, Manish Sharma, Rahul, and Amit, had been charged with rioting and arson for allegedly being part of a mob that set fire to houses, shops, and a scooter outside Azizia Masjid on February 25, 2020.
“I must observe that there has been an egregious padding of evidence by the IO and this has resulted in serious trampling of the rights of the accused, who have been probably chargesheeted only in order to show that this case is worked out,” the ASJ remarked.
“This is more saddening because despite the glaring defects, supervising officers, i.e. SHO and ACP, had forwarded the chargesheet in a mechanical manner. Such instances lead to serious erosion of the faith of the people in the investigating process and the rule of law and therefore, I deem it appropriate that the copy of this judgment be sent to worthy Commissioner of Police for his perusal, with a request to take remedial action,” the ASJ added.
The ASJ ordered that a copy of the judgment be sent to the Delhi Police Commissioner for remedial action.
The Court noted that the only eyewitness, PW10 Head Constable Vikas, was “completely unreliable.” It observed that the case diary suggested the IO had “cooked up” the case to show progress. “In view of my aforesaid discussions, it is apparent that merely in order to work out a case, a false case has been foisted upon the accused… All the accused are entitled to be acquitted of all the charges,” the order stated.
The Court also raised doubts about procedural lapses, questioning why judicial Test Identification Parade (TIP) was not conducted when the accused were already in custody. Instead, police relied on identification through photographs, undermining the credibility of the case.
The Court flagged inconsistencies in the testimony of ASI Karan Singh, who claimed he reached the scene when houses and a scooter were still burning. This contradicted other records suggesting he was present earlier.
Further, the Court said it failed to understand how some accused, who had already been arrested in another riot-related FIR around 8–9 pm, could have been shown as arrested 10–11 hours earlier in the present case based on disclosures from that FIR.
All six accused were acquitted of arson and rioting charges, with the Court remarking that the sudden appearance of prosecution witnesses and absence of proper identification procedures raised “serious doubts” about the integrity of the investigation.
Case Title: State v. Ishu Gupta & Ors.
Judgment Date: August 25, 2025
Bench: ASJ Parveen Singh