Delay of a few days in reporting riots justified: Delhi Court

A local court has held that a "delay" of a few days in reporting incidents of riots to the police was justified on account of the "atmosphere of terror and trauma" which prevailed in the national capital after riots rocked the city in February last year.

On Tuesday, the court framed charges of rioting and unlawful assembly against four men -- Mohammad Shahnawaz, Mohammad Shoaib, Shahrukh and Rashid -- who were allegedly involved in the North East Delhi riots.

"There had been instances of killing, looting, rioting, vandalizing and setting ablaze of movable and immovable properties by members of each community against each other," the court said.


The order further read that "there was an atmosphere of terror and trauma which prevailed in the area for several days even after these riots. In these circumstances, a delay of five days in reporting the incident to the police station would appear justified to any prudent person and cannot be considered fatal to the prosecution case".

The court went on to say "keeping these circumstances in view, it cannot be said that the delay in recording the statements of these witnesses was intentional or contumacious and therefore, the accused cannot claim discharge in this case merely on this score".

The court observed that the eye witnesses' account cannot be ignored merely for the reason that their statements were recorded after a delay of about more than a month from the date of incident.

The police have alleged that a complaint was received from one Ram Charan Sharma wherein it was alleged that his two shops were looted, damaged and burnt by rioters. An FIR was registered on this.