Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, who has been awarded life imprisonment along with four others by a Delhi court in the murder of IB officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Delhi riots, on Friday said that he will appeal in the High Court and hope to get justice in the matter. Earlier today, Delhi‘s Karkardooma Court sentenced former Hussain and four others to life imprisonment for the murder of Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh pronounced the sentence to all five accused after hearing arguments on the quantum and said that the prosecution was not able to prove that the convicts are not beyond reformation. The judgement was pronounced in the physical presence of Hussain and others amid tight security. The courtroom was packed with lawyers and senior Delhi Police officials including Crime Branch’s Joint Commissioner and DCP.
BJP Seeks Apology From Kejriwal
Reacting to the judgement, the BJP attacked the Aam Aadmi Party and sought an apology from party chief Arvind Kejriwal.Following the conviction, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra said that prominent AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, extended “protection” to Hussain when the riots took place.
“This (conviction of Hussain) proves that AAP leaders were fanning the riots,” Malhotra charged. Malhotra said Kejriwal should apologise to the country.
BJP MLA and Delhi government spokesperson Harish Khurana said they had expected capital punishment for Hussain.
“The family of late Ankit Sharma has got some justice, but we were expecting capital punishment, instead of a life sentence, for Hussain because it is a rarest of rare case. He was killed merely for being a Hindu,” Khurana said.
“Tahir Hussain was an AAP councillor and party leaders, including Kejriwal, tried to defend him and present him as a victim. The court verdict is a tight slap across the faces of all those leaders of Congress and AAP who gave the whole thing a communal angle. Kejriwal should apologise to the country after the court has sentenced Hussain,” Khurana added.
AAP Alleges Hussain Was Indirectly Working For BJP
In response, Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj hit back, saying, “Tahir Hussain was indirectly working for the BJP.”
Refuting the BJP’s allegations, the AAP leader said the party had expelled Hussain immediately after an FIR was registered against him in connection with Sharma’s murder.
Bharadwaj alleged that while AAP acted against Hussain after the FIR, the BJP had continued to support leaders facing serious allegations in other cases linked to the riots. He alleged that the BJP was now trying to shift responsibility onto the AAP.
‘Had His Name Been…’: Congress MP Questions Judgement
However, Congress MP from Saharanpur, Imran Masood, erupted a row as he allegedly questioned the court’s verdict, saying if his name (Tahir Hussain) had been Kapil Mishra (Minister in Delhi government), then he might have been set free.”
Chronology of Events in IB officer Ankit Sharma Murder Case
- February 2020: Communal violence erupts in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, leaving 53 people dead and several others injured.
- February 25, 2020: Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma goes missing after stepping out of his home in northeast Delhi during riots.
- February 26, 2020: Sharma’s body is recovered from the Khajuri Khas drain near the Chand Bagh pulia area. His father, Ravinder Kumar, lodges an FIR at Dayalpur police station, accusing former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and others of his son’s murder.
- June 3, 2020: Delhi Police Crime Branch files a charge sheet in the Karkardooma court against ten persons, including Tahir Hussain, now suspended from the party. The accused are charged with kidnapping, murder and rioting in the Chand Bagh area on February 25.
- August 21, 2020: Delhi court takes cognisance of the charge sheet.
- March 24, 2023: Delhi court frames charges against Tahir Hussain and 10 other accused under various IPC provisions, including murder, rioting, promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy.
- July 13, 2026: Delhi court convicts Tahir Hussain and four others in the murder case. Hussain is convicted of murder but acquitted of criminal conspiracy and abetment charges. Six co-accused are acquitted.
- July 27, 2026: Delhi court heard arguments on sentence against all the convicts and reserved its order on quantum of sentence for July 31. The prosecution sought death penalty for all the convicts.
- July 31, 2026: Delhi court awarded life imprisonment to Tahir Hussain and four co-convicts in the murder case.
With inputs from PTI