On Wednesday, the Karkardooma Court in Delhi exonerated a defendant in a case involving looting, arson, and rioting in Karawal Nagar during the North Delhi riots. The prosecution failed to prove that the accused was present in the riotous mob, the court stated in its decision to acquit the accused.
The court pulled up the Prosecution and observed, “Prosecution cannot raise presumption on the basis of one old video, to allege that accused was part of riotous mob in all subsequent incidents.”
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala, after considering submission, facts and evidence, acquitted accused Praveen Giri from all charges leveled against him by the Prosecution.
“My foregoing discussion and observations lead me to hold that prosecution though established the incident of riot, vandalism and arson, but it failed to prove presence of accused in the unlawful assembly responsible for such incidents, beyond reasonable doubts,” ASJ Pramachala said in the judgement passed on September 27.
The court said, ” In view of my foregoing discussions, observations and findings, accused Praveen Giri is hereby acquitted of all the charges levelled against him in this case.”
The video used in this case, the court acknowledged, did not relate to any of the incidents under investigation. The claim that the video demonstrates the accused’s continued involvement in the riot from the evening of February 25 until the morning of February 26 is false because it is not supported by any evidence. The prosecutor’s assertion that the accused was identified by prosecution witness (PW) Afsar following his capture on July 2, 2020, appears to lack some supporting evidence, the judge continued.