New Delhi, Oct 10 A Delhi court on Saturday held that expelled AAP leader Tahir Hussain had allowed a mob to use his building as a vantage point to pelt stones at people and properties during the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, convicting him of abetment to rioting.
This is the second conviction of Hussain in a case related to the riots. On July 31, a Delhi court sentenced the former AAP councillor and four co-convicts to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh convicted Hussain under Section 147 (rioting) read with Section 109 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the case registered at Dayalpur police station.
He was acquitted of the more serious charges, including Sections 148 (rioting while armed with deadly weapon), 380 (Stealing from a residential house), 427 (mischief causing damage), 435, 436 (mischief by fire or explosive) and 450 (trespass to commit offence punishable with life imprisonment) of the IPC, read with Section 109.
In its 53-page judgment, the court said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that on February 24, 2020, between 2 pm and 3 pm, a mob gathered on the terrace of Hussain's house on Main Karawal Nagar Road and used the building's height to pelt stones at passers-by and nearby properties.
"It stands established that accused Tahir Hussain allowed the mob to use his building as a vantage point from which it committed a riot and pelted stones upon the public and properties," the court said.
The court relied on the testimonies of four public witnesses, who deposed that a large crowd had gathered outside Hussain's house and a mob on its terrace was pelting stones. None of them placed Hussain among the rioters, which the court said indicated they bore no malice or bias against him.
The court also noted that when the allegations were put to Hussain in his statement under Section 313 CrPC, he did not deny that a rioting mob was present on his terrace.
Hussain claimed that the mob had forcibly entered his house and he could not stop it. He also said he had made several calls to the police control room (PCR and was unaware of the stone pelting from his terrace.
"This admission not only corroborates the testimonies of these witnesses about a rioting mob being present at the terrace of the house of Hussain, but in the prevailing circumstances, it gives credence to their testimonies that those rioters were pelting stones on the passers by and the surrounding properties," the judge said.
The judge said Hussain's defence could not be accepted merely because he asserted it. Although he had opted to lead defence evidence, none was ultimately brought on record, and he did not step into the witness box to prove his claim of making PCR calls. The court said this claim in fact "reflects his presence at or near his house at that time".
"The prosecution has successfully proved that accused Tahir Hussain had allowed the mob to occupy his terrace and use it to pelt stones upon the passers-by and the buildings around his house," the court said.
The prosecution, represented by Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey, had argued that eyewitnesses placed all the accused in the rioting mob and that Hussain aided the rioters by allowing them to pelt stones from his house.
However, the court rejected the prosecution's case that Hussain had armed or instigated the mob or that the rioters had set fire to the shops of Irshad Ali, Mohd Jahid and Gunjan Sachdeva. It noted that none of the witnesses placed him in the mob or testified that he had abetted vandalism, looting or arson at the shops.
The court found significant improvements in the witnesses' depositions compared with their earlier statements under Section 161 CrPC. It rejected their explanation that the investigating officer had failed to record the relevant facts.
The court said it would be "highly unsafe" to rely on their testimonies. It also noted that the prosecution did not prove the duty rosters of the two police stations to establish the presence of these witnesses at the spot.
The judge further observed that the prosecution's case entirely rested on oral evidence. Although video footage had been collected and sent for forensic examination, no effort was made to prove it during the trial, the court said.
The court held that Hussain could be convicted under Section 147 read with Section 109, even though he had not been charged under these provisions, as the offence was a lesser, cognate offence to the one he had been charged with, and his defence was not prejudiced.
The court acquitted all the other accused, Mohd Shadab, Shah Alam, Riyasat Ali, Gulfam, Rashid Saifi, Mohd Rihan, Mohd Abid, Arshad Qayyum and Irshad Ahmed, holding that the prosecution failed to prove its case against them. Their bail bonds were cancelled and sureties discharged.
The matter has been listed for arguments on the quantum of sentence against Hussain on November 16.
Hussain was expelled by the AAP in February 2020, hours after an FIR was registered against him in connection with the riots. He joined the AIMIM in 2024 and contested the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections on its ticket, but lost.
The riots that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 left 53 people dead and caused extensive property damage.
