Delhi HC Issues Notice on Appeals by Two Convicts in Ankit Sharma Murder Case
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, asked the city police to respond to appeals filed by two convicts challenging their life imprisonment in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. A Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan admitted the appeals by Nazim and Kasim and issued notice to the prosecution.
The court also issued notice on the convicts' plea seeking the suspension of their life sentences and listed the matter for hearing on December 2.
Appearing for the two appellants, counsel submitted that a test identification parade was not conducted in their case. The counsel further argued that the testimony of the witness was not corroborated by any independent material.
In response, the prosecution submitted that the State will also prefer an appeal against the trial court's decision, which acquitted six other accused persons in the case.
The trial court had on July 31 convicted former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four co-convicts, including Nazim and Kasim, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, promoting enmity, and rioting. The trial court sentenced all five individuals to life imprisonment. During the trial, the prosecution had sought the death penalty for all five accused, stating they had fallen to the level of animals while assaulting Sharma.
The case originates from an FIR registered at the Dayalpur police station based on a complaint by Ankit Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar. According to the complaint, Sharma had returned home from his office on February 25, 2020, before stepping out again.
When he failed to return, his family began searching for him and were informed by locals that Sharma had been killed and his body thrown into the Khajuri Khas drain near a mosque in the Chand Bagh Pulia area. In his complaint, Kumar alleged that his son was murdered by Hussain and others who had assembled at Hussain's office, where the body was subsequently disposed of.
