Tahir Hussain Moves Delhi High Court Against Life Sentence in Ankit Sharma Murder Case

Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain has approached the Delhi High Court to challenge his conviction and life imprisonment sentence in connection with the murder of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which were registered at the Dayalpur police station.

The appeal is scheduled to come up for hearing next week. Hussain has requested the High Court to set aside the trial court's conviction order passed on July 13 and the subsequent sentencing order issued on July 31.

In his plea before the High Court, Hussain argued that the investigation against him was tainted from the start and designed to implicate him to satisfy public anger. He stated that the First Information Report was ante-dated and ante-timed, asserting that no material investigation took place until March 6, 2020, when he was arrested in another case.

Hussain also alleged that witnesses were planted in the case, that statements from genuine eyewitnesses were manipulated, and that the actual perpetrators were never brought to book. He contended that the trial court erroneously relied on the testimonies of unreliable individuals who did not witness the incident, while ignoring issues with the investigation and the alleged fabrication of the initial complaint.

According to the prosecution, the case originated after complainant Ravinder Kumar reported to Dayalpur police station on February 26, 2020, stating that his son Ankit Sharma, who worked with the Intelligence Bureau, had been missing since February 25, 2020, during the communal violence in the area.