6 days ago
Tahir Hussain Appeals Life Sentence in Ankit Sharma Murder
Tahir Hussain was convicted of helping murder Ankit Sharma during the February 2020 riots.
Sharma worked for the Intelligence Bureau.
A court gave Hussain and four other people life sentences.
Hussain has now asked the Delhi High Court to cancel his conviction and sentence.
He says the police investigation was unfair from the start.
He also says some witnesses were planted or their statements were changed.
Prosecutors say Sharma disappeared and that his body was found in a drain.
The High Court is expected to consider the appeal next week.
The court will decide whether the trial court’s decision should stand.
Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain has appealed to the Delhi High Court against his conviction and life sentence.
Hussain alleges the investigation was designed to implicate him and satisfy public anger.
His appeal claims the FIR was ante-dated and ante-timed, witnesses were planted, and genuine statements were manipulated.
Prosecutors said IB staffer Ankit Sharma disappeared on February 25, 2020, and his body was later found in the Khajuri Khas nala.
A trial court sentenced Hussain and four co-convicts to life imprisonment, ruling the murder was not a rarest-of-rare case warranting the death penalty.
- Who
- Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, Ankit Sharma, and four co-convicts: Nazim, Qasim, Javed and Anas.
- What
- Hussain has appealed his conviction and life sentence for Sharma’s murder.
- Where
- The case concerns the Delhi riots, the Dayalpur police station, Chand Bagh, and the Khajuri Khas nala; the appeal is before the Delhi High Court.
- When
- The murder occurred during the February 2020 riots; the appeal was filed on Monday and may be heard next week. The trial court convicted Hussain on July 13 and sentenced him on July 31.
- Why
- Hussain seeks to overturn the conviction, alleging a tainted investigation, fabricated or manipulated evidence, and unreliable witnesses.
Hussain’s Appeal
Prosecution and Trial Court Findings
Investigation
Hussain’s Appeal
Hussain argues that the investigation was tainted from the beginning, that the FIR was ante-dated and ante-timed, and that authorities focused on implicating him to satisfy public anger.
Prosecution and Trial Court Findings
The prosecution presented the case that Sharma disappeared, that his body was dumped in the Khajuri Khas nala, and that Hussain was criminally responsible for the murder.
Witnesses and Evidence
Hussain’s Appeal
Hussain claims witnesses were planted, genuine eyewitness statements were manipulated, and the trial court relied on people who did not witness the incident.
Prosecution and Trial Court Findings
The trial court accepted the prosecution’s evidence and witness statements, while rejecting the defense’s challenges to their reliability.
Punishment
Hussain’s Appeal
Hussain seeks to set aside both the conviction and the life sentence.
Prosecution and Trial Court Findings
The trial court sentenced Hussain and four co-convicts to life imprisonment, finding that the case did not warrant the death penalty under the rarest-of-rare standard.
Key facts
- Accused
- Tahir Hussain, a former AAP councillor
- Victim
- Ankit Sharma, an Intelligence Bureau staffer
- Incident
- Murder during the February 2020 Delhi riots
- Body recovered
- Khajuri Khas nala
- Alleged injuries
- The prosecution said Sharma’s body had 51 injuries
- Co-convicts
- Nazim, Qasim, Javed and Anas
- Sentence
- Life imprisonment; the trial court said the case was not among the rarest of rare cases
Quotes
Tahir Hussain
Former AAP councillor and appellant in the murder case
“The investigation against the appellant has been tainted since the very beginning, aimed at implicating him in order to satisfy public anger. The FIR is ante-dated and ante-timed, no material investigation was carried out until March 6, 2020, that is, till the appellant was arrested in another case”
thehansindia.com
Sources
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