Archive · 31 Jul 2026
Delhi Court Sentences Ex-AAP Leader to Life for 2020 Riot Murder
A man named Tahir Hussain, who used to be a city council member for the Aam Aadmi Party, was part of a group that killed a police officer named Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Delhi riots.
A judge in Delhi said the crime was very bad but not so extreme that the death penalty should be used.
Instead, the judge gave Tahir and the other four people a life sentence, meaning they will stay in prison for the rest of their lives.
The judge said the state did not prove that the people could not change or that they were beyond help.
The decision was made after a big courtroom with police and lawyers, and the families of the accused were also there.
The judge also said that the people should face the full force of the law for other crimes they were found guilty of.
The police had asked for the death penalty, but the judge decided against it.
The case shows how courts decide punishments based on evidence and legal rules.
Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four others were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Delhi riots.
The Delhi court ruled the case did not qualify as a "rarest of rare" case, so the death penalty was not warranted.
Judge Praveen Singh rejected the prosecution’s plea for capital punishment, citing lack of evidence that the convicts were beyond reformation.
The court noted that the state failed to present material showing the convicts had a violent disposition or propensity to crime.
The sentencing was delivered amid heightened security, with presence of Delhi Police officials and Hussain’s family.
- Who
- Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, four co‑convicts, Judge Praveen Singh, Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey, victim Ankit Sharma
- What
- Sentenced to life imprisonment for murder during the 2020 Delhi riots
- When
- July 13, 2023
- Where
- Delhi court, India
- Why
- Court ruled the case did not qualify as a "rarest of rare" case and lacked evidence of the convicts being beyond reformation
- Convicted individuals
- Tahir Hussain and four others
- Sentence
- Life imprisonment
- Case
- Murder of Ankit Sharma during 2020 Delhi riots
- Judge
- Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh
- Date of verdict
- July 13, 2023
