A court in Delhi has sentenced nine Muslim men convicted in a case pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, PTI reported.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala on Tuesday pronounced the order, sentencing Mohammed Shahnawaz, Mohammed Shoaib, Shahrukh, Rashid, Azad, Ashraf Ali Parvez, Mohammed Faisal and Rashid.
On March 13, the court convicted the nine accused, saying the charges levelled by the prosecution were proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
“All the convicts shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years for the offence punishable under Section 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house etc.) of the Indian Penal Code and each convict shall pay a fine of ₹ 20,000,” the judge said.
The ASJ also said from the recovered fine, ₹ 1.5 lakh would be disbursed to the complainant or victim as compensation and in default of payment of the fine, each convict would undergo simple imprisonment for one year and six months.
Noting that the defence counsel referred to reformation and sought a lenient approach in sentencing, the judge said the repercussion of crime in the case does not allow invoking the reformatory theory of sentence.
“Moreover, though reformation is the most ideal aim, but even for that purpose there must be some indication appearing from the conduct of the convict and it cannot be demanded just to escape the consequences of misdeeds,” the ASJ said.
In the present case, the sentence must be based on the consideration of balancing the impact of crime on the society and background of the convicts, the judge added.
The court also noted that the nine people were held guilty of the charges of forming an unlawful assembly with the object of causing maximum damage to people of a particular community, besides instilling fear and insecurity in their minds, and in pursuance of their common object, the convicts committed vandalism, theft and mischief by fire in the complainant’s house in Chaman Park area on the intervening night of February 24 and 25, 2020.
A charge sheet was filed at Gokulpuri police station against the accused under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc.) 427 (punishment for committing mischief and thereby causing loss or damage to the amount of ₹ 50 or upwards) 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 436 of the IPC. ( With PTI inputs )