Delhi High Court upholds seven-year terms for five in Mohsin riot death

The Delhi High Court upheld five convictions and seven-year prison terms in Mohsin's riot death. The ruling affirmed mob liability despite uncertainty over who inflicted the fatal injury.

In Short

• An eyewitness placed all five appellants at the armed mob's forefront
• Attackers pursued and assaulted Mohsin after he fell near police barricades
• Judges said identifying the person inflicting the fatal injury was unnecessary

The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction and seven-year prison sentence awarded to five men over the death of 22-year-old Mohsin during the communal riots in north-east Delhi in February 2020, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

Justice Madhu Jain dismissed appeals filed by Aman Kashyap, Devinder Kumar, Pradeep Rai, Ashish and Arun Kumar against the trial court's decision. The High Court said an eyewitness had identified them as being at the forefront of an armed mob and encouraging others to assault Mohsin.

The trial court convicted the five men on November 20, 2024, under Section 304 Part I of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and Section 148, which deals with rioting while armed with a deadly weapon. On January 13, 2025, it sentenced them to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000.

The appellants argued that independent witnesses had not supported the prosecution's case and that the charges against them had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Rejecting their arguments, the High Court said they could not seek acquittal merely because the prosecution was unable to determine which member of the mob had inflicted the fatal injury on Mohsin's head, according to PTI.

"In the present case, the evidence establishes more than the mere presence of the appellants in a crowd. PW-10 (the beat constable) identified all five appellants at the forefront of the armed mob, exhorting others to assault the deceased," the court said in its judgement passed on October 27.

"The deceased was pursued, surrounded and assaulted even after he had fallen near the police barricades. The conduct attributed to the appellants, the weapons carried by members of the mob and the continued assault upon the deceased provide the factual basis for concluding that the assembly had an unlawful common object of assaulting the deceased and causing bodily harm to him," it added.

The five men allegedly assaulted Mohsin on February 25, 2020, during communal violence in the Chand Bagh area. He later died from his injuries.

The trial court had found that an armed mob killed Mohsin near the Peer Baba Mazar in Chand Bagh on February 25, 2020. It said the testimony of prosecution witnesses left no doubt that the five accused were part of the mob that assaulted him.

The High Court, therefore, upheld the trial court's finding that the five men participated in the armed mob's assault on Mohsin and confirmed their conviction, seven-year prison term and fine.

- Ends