By Umang Poddar
Five years after deadly religious riots engulfed India’s capital Delhi, there is no legal closure in sight for the people involved.
A BBC Hindi analysis has found that more than 80% of the cases related to the violence where courts gave decisions have resulted in acquittals or discharges.
More than 50 people, mostly Muslims, were killed after clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims over a controversial citizenship law in February 2020. The violence – the deadliest the city had seen in decades – stretched on for days, with hundreds of homes and shops set on fire by violent mobs.
The BBC had earlier reported on incidents of police brutality and complicity during the riots. The police have denied any wrongdoing and in their investigation, alleged that the violence was “pre-planned” as a part of a larger conspiracy to “threaten India’s unity” by the people who were protesting against the law.
They registered 758 cases in connection with the investigation and arrested more than 2,000 people. This included 18 student leaders and activists who were arrested in a case that came to be known as the “main conspiracy case”. They were charged under a draconian anti-terror law that makes it nearly impossible to get bail. Only six of them have been released in five years, and some like activist Umar Khalid are still in jail, waiting for a trial to begin.
BBC Hindi examined the status of all the 758 cases filed in relation to the riotsand analysed the 126 cases in which the Karkardooma court in Delhi had given decisions.
More than 80% of these 126 cases resulted in acquittals or discharges as witnesses turned hostile, or did not support the prosecution’s case. Only 20 of these cases saw convictions.
Under Indian law, an accused is discharged when a court closes a case without a trial because there isn’t sufficient evidence to go ahead. An acquittal is when the court finds the accused not guilty after a full trial.
This story was originally published in bbc.com. Read the full story here.
