Delhi: A Delhi court at Karkardooma has acquitted five men accused of vandalism and arson at the Allah Wali Mosque in Karawal Nagar during the February 2020 North-East Delhi riots, holding that the prosecution failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, Live Law reported.

Source: Live Law

Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh gave Ankit, Sourabh Sharma, Rohit, Rahul Kumar and Sachin the benefit of doubt and acquitted them of all charges, LawChakra reported. The five faced charges under Sections 147, 148, 149, 188, 427, 435, 436 and 450 of the Indian Penal Code, and Rohit was also charged under Sections 109 and 114 of the IPC.

Source: LawChakra

The prosecution alleged that the mosque was set on fire on February 24, 2020, that a statue was placed on the slab outside the mosque and that articles kept on its four floors were set ablaze. According to the court, the prosecution's case involved two alleged incidents of vandalism and arson at the mosque — one on February 24, 2020, at around 11 pm and another on February 25, 2020, at around 11 am.

The court observed that there was no witness to establish the alleged incident of February 24 at 11 pm or the participation of the accused in it. It also held that the testimonies of the two police eyewitnesses, PW10 and PW11, regarding the vandalism and arson at the mosque at around 11 am on February 25, 2020, were not credible.

The court also rejected the prosecution's reliance on CCTV footage to place the accused at the scene. It held that the certificate produced did not fulfil the requirements of Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, and that the DVDs containing the footage were inadmissible because no valid Section 65B certificate had been proved for them.

The prosecution had examined 14 witnesses in the case, including two police personnel who claimed to have witnessed the incident and identified the accused through CCTV footage. With the police testimony found unreliable and the electronic evidence held inadmissible, the court granted the five accused the benefit of doubt and acquitted them of all charges in the case, titled State v. Ankit and Others.