‘No arson happened at mosque that day’: Court acquits 5 in 2020 Delhi riots case

A Delhi court has acquitted five men accused of vandalism and arson at a mosque in Karawal Nagar during the 2020 North East Delhi riots. The court cited a lack of credible eyewitnesses, contradictory statements and inadmissibility of electronic evidence during acquittal.

As per the prosecution, which examined 14 witnesses, Allah Wali Mosque was set on fire by a mob and a statue was placed on the slab outside it. The mob, which included these five accused, committed vandalism and arson in the mosque around 11 pm on February 24, 2020, on February 25,2020, around 11 am.

The five men, who have been acquitted, were facing allegations of rioting with a deadly weapon, unlawful assembly, and arson, among others. The order added, "This becomes more important in view of his uncontested testimony that after the mosque was set on fire at 8.15 pm in the night when he had seen it, he remained confined in his house for around four long days.

Therefore, if there had been a second incident at FIR No. 104/20 PS Karawal Nagar 14 of 25 the mosque, he would have seen and deposed about it because admittedly his house was just in front of the said mosque. Hence, I find that the testimonies of PW10 and PW11 regarding the vandalism and arson at the mosque at around 11.00 a.m on 25.02.2020 are not credible and there is a probability that on 25.02.2020 at around 11.00 a.m, no arson and vandalism had happened at the mosque.

If that be the case, the witnesses i.e PW10 and PW11 would not have seen the accused in these acts.” The court noted that the DVDs provided by the Forensic Science Laboratory lacked the required certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act.

"As far as these DVDs are concerned, there is no certificate u/s 65B of IE Act prepared by this witness and proved on record. That being the case, in view of the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v.

Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal, 2020 SCC OnLine SC 571 and Anvar P.V v. P.K Basheer & Ors, (2014) 10 SCC 473, these DVDs are inadmissible in evidence and the contents thereof cannot be looked into," the court said. It added, “On the face of it, the certificate Ex.A-18 is not a valid certificate as per The Indian Evidence Act, as admittedly the details of the computer system have not been mentioned.

The person who had issued the certificate had no control over the data which he had provided. Thus, this certificate does not fulfill the requirements of Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act.” Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district court...

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