The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice on an appeal filed by former AAP councillor Mohd Tahir Hussain challenging the trial court judgment in the case concerning the killing of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the February 2020 North-East Delhi riots.

A Division Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan issued notice to the State. The learned APP appearing for the State accepted notice.

Tahir Hussain was convicted by the Delhi District Court in the case arising out of the death of Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in the Chand Bagh area on February 26, 2020. The prosecution had alleged that Sharma was caught by a rioting mob while returning home, assaulted with weapons and subsequently thrown into the drain.

The prosecution case against him was that he was involved in the conspiracy and instigation of the violence in the Chand Bagh area and that the mob allegedly operated from around his residence during the riots. The Karkardooma trial court, after considering the evidence led by the prosecution, convicted Hussain of murder and other offences and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, it rejected the prosecution’s plea for the death penalty, holding that the prosecution had not established that the convicts were beyond the possibility of reformation and rehabilitation.

Aggrieved by the conviction, Tahir Hussain has now approached the Delhi High Court.

Also Read: Delhi High Court Rejects Bail Plea of Ex-AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain in Ankit Sharma Murder Case