A Delhi court has convicted former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain and four other people in the case concerning the killing of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma during the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi. The verdict marks a significant stage in one of the criminal cases arising from the violence.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh heard the proceedings against 11 accused. According to the official Akashvani report, the court convicted five of them. The report did not identify the four people convicted alongside Hussain or set out the outcome for the other six accused, and it did not provide details of sentencing.
The court found Hussain guilty of offences including murder, promoting enmity, rioting, assault and the use of criminal force. These findings concern his liability in the specific case before the sessions court; they should not be read as a decision on every case registered in connection with the wider riots.
The prosecution originated in a First Information Report registered at Dayalpur police station after a complaint by Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar. Sharma was an Intelligence Bureau employee whose killing became one of the most closely followed cases from the communal violence.
Charges had been framed against Hussain and 10 others in March 2023. The July 2026 decision therefore follows more than three years after the court formally set out the accusations that the defendants would face at trial.
Hussain was serving as an AAP councillor when his name emerged in the investigation and was later suspended by the party. His political position made the case prominent, but the court's finding rests on the criminal proceedings and the evidence considered in that matter.
The broader northeast Delhi riots left 53 people dead, injured several others and caused extensive property damage. The present verdict addresses one part of that larger legal record. Further clarity will depend on the written judgment and subsequent sentencing or appeal proceedings becoming publicly available.
