The Delhi High Court has issued a notice on the bail application of former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain in the 2020 North-East Delhi riots case related to the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma. The hearing took place on May 5, where Justice Neena Bansal Krishna sought a status report from the Delhi Police on the matter.
“Issue notice. Let a status report be filed by the State,” the Court directed.
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The next date of hearing in the matter has been fixed for July.
Tahir Hussain has been in judicial custody for over five years in this case. His earlier bail plea, filed in December 2023, was withdrawn in February 2024 due to developments in the case, with permission to approach the trial court. However, the trial court rejected his bail on March 12, stating that no material change had taken place in the circumstances to justify granting him bail. Following this, Hussain has now once again approached the Delhi High Court seeking regular bail.
He is being represented by Advocates Tara Narula and Shivangi Sharma.
The case against Hussain is based on FIR No. 65 of 2020, registered at Dayalpur Police Station. The FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint by Ankit Sharma’s father, who initially filed a missing report when Ankit did not return home during the riots.
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Ankit Sharma, who was working as an Intelligence Bureau Officer, had left his residence at around 5 PM to buy groceries but never returned. Hours later, his body was recovered from a drain near Chand Bagh Pulia, and he was declared brought dead at GTB Hospital.
“The post-mortem report found 51 injuries on Ankit Sharma’s body, caused by sharp and blunt weapons,” the report revealed.
The father of the deceased alleged in the complaint that he had a strong suspicion that his son was killed by Tahir Hussain and his associates.
In March 2023, the trial court framed charges against Tahir Hussain and 11 other accused: Haseen, Nazim, Kasim, Sameer Khan, Anas, Firoz, Javed, Gulfam, Shoaib Alam, and Muntajim.
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Charges were framed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including:
- 147 (rioting)
- 148 (rioting with deadly weapons)
- 153A (promoting enmity)
- 302 (murder)
- 365 (kidnapping)
- 120B (criminal conspiracy)
- 149 (unlawful assembly)
- 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant)
Additionally, Tahir Hussain faced charges under Sections 505, 109, and 114 of IPC, while accused Nazim was also charged under Section 25 of the Arms Act.
“There exists sufficient evidence for framing of charges,” the trial court had observed during the charge-framing stage.
The case remains under judicial scrutiny, with the High Court now set to examine the merits of Hussain’s renewed plea for bail in the upcoming hearing.
Case Title: Tahir Hussain v. State
