New Delhi, November 18: A court here on Friday while hearing a case regarding the 2020 northeast Delhi riots acquitted four persons from charges of rioting and setting ablaze a shop.

Mohammed Shahnawaz, Mohammed Shoaib, Shahrukh and Rashid were accused of being a part of a riotous mob that set ablaze a shop and a vehicle in Gokalpuri area on February 24, 2020. Delhi Riots 2020: Court Defers Order on Umar Khalid's Bail Plea.

"In view of my foregoing discussions, observations and findings, I find that charges levelled against the accused persons are not proved beyond doubt. Hence, accused persons… are acquitted of all the charges levelled against them in this case," Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said. Delhi Riots Larger Conspiracy Case: High Court Adjourns Umar Khalid’s Bail Hearing for August 31.

The court noted that according to the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, it was proved that an unlawful assembly indulged in vandalism and arson in the area.

It said for proving the identity of the accused persons, the prosecution had produced two witnesses -- Head Constable Hari Babu and Constable Vipin -- who were on duty at the time of the alleged incident. But the head constable was unable to recognise the accused persons, the court said.

"He (Hari Babu) was cross-examined by the prosecutor, wherein he admitted the suggestion that he was unable to identify four rioters correctly because of memory loss," the court said.

It said that also, there was a "marked difference" in the testimonies of both witnesses regarding the number of people who had assembled at the spot.

"Keeping in view such varying accounts of the same facts, I find it desirable to apply the test of consistent testimony of more than one witness and applying that test, I hold that sole testimony of Prosecution Witness 9 (Constable Vipin) cannot be sufficient to assume the presence of accused persons herein in the mob…," the court said.

The Gokalpuri police station had registered an FIR against the accused person under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rioting, on the basis of the statement of the complainant Ravi Shankar.

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