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Special public prosecutor Madhukar Pandey told the court that Sharma was subjected to a planned and relentless assault before his body was dumped in a drain instead of being taken for medical treatment. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Pandey said the prosecution's demand for capital punishment was based on the nature of the crime and the manner in which it was carried out.
Ankit Sharma murder: Tahir Hussain, other convicts sentenced to life imprisonment
In a significant ruling, a Delhi court has imposed a life sentence on former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain along with four co-defendants for the gruesome murder of Ankit Sharma, an Intelligence Bureau official. The victim was tragically killed during the violent 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. The prosecution argued for the death penalty, highlighting the 51 injuries sustained by Sharma, while the court weighed mitigating factors before determining the appropriate punishment.
Tahir Hussain (left) has been sentenced to life for killing Ankit Sharma
The Delhi Police argued for the death penalty, describing the killing of Ankit Sharma as "exceptionally brutal" and "cold-blooded".
Barbarity is nauseatingly sickening: Court on IB officer's murder in Delhi riots
The court added that the crimes committed were in utter disdain of law and disregard for life. “The incident was horrendous and nauseating and sickening.”
Hussain, who represented the Nehru Vihar ward in northeast Delhi, was a sitting AAP councillor when the communal violence broke out in February 2020.
Should have got death penalty: Ankit Sharma's brother on Tahir Hussain's life term
Delhi's Karkardooma Court on Friday sentenced Tahir Hussain to life imprisonment.
While the court observed that the murder was ‘rarest of the rare’ case in terms of brutality, it rejected the Delhi Police’s plea for capital punishment.
A Delhi court sentenced former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and four others to life imprisonment. They were convicted for the murder of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma. The court found Sharma was lynched solely on account of his religion during the 2020 riots. While the prosecution sought the death penalty, it was declined by the judge. The judge considered educational backgrounds as a mitigating factor for the convicts.
While describing the killing as “exceptionally brutal”, the court held that the case did not satisfy the legal threshold for the death penalty under the “rarest of rare” doctrine.
The bench sought Delhi police’s response in an appeal filed by Nazim and Kasim against trial court’s orders and application for seeking suspension of the sentence
Tahir Hussain’s appeal contests the trial court’s findings, claiming a biased investigation and wrongful witness testimonies