Delhi HC to hear appeals of two convicts in IB officer Ankit Sharma murder case

New Delhi, Aug 11 (AHN) Convicts Nazim and Kasim, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots, have approached the Delhi High Court challenging their conviction and sentence.

As per the supplementary cause list published by the Delhi High Court, the criminal appeals filed by Nazim and Kasim are scheduled to come up for hearing on Wednesday before a Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Vikas Mahajan.

Nazim has filed Criminal Appeal No. 764/2026, along with an application seeking suspension of sentence and bail, while Kasim has filed Criminal Appeal No. 766/2026 with a similar plea. Both appeals arise out of the judgment of the Karkardooma Court, which had convicted them along with former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain, Javed and Anas in connection with the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma.

The trial court had subsequently sentenced all five convicts to life imprisonment after holding them guilty of offences including murder, kidnapping, rioting and promoting enmity between different groups.

While pronouncing the sentence, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Praveen Singh had described the crime as a "very serious" incident and observed that Sharma was "brutally murdered" and his body was left "like an animal", adding that the incident had "shaken the conscience of society".

The Delhi Police had sought the death penalty for the convicts, describing Sharma's killing as a "cold-blooded" and "brutal" murder, referring to the 51 injuries found on his body. However, the defence had opposed the plea for capital punishment, arguing that the case did not fall within the "rarest of rare" category warranting the death sentence.

The trial court had convicted Hussain, Javed, Anas, Nazim and Kasim under Sections 302 (murder), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person), 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) and 149 of the IPC.

However, all five were acquitted of the charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the IPC.

The court had also acquitted six other accused, holding that the prosecution failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The case relates to the killing of IB officer Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain in the Khajuri Khas area on February 26, 2020, during the communal violence in North-East Delhi.

According to the prosecution, Sharma was caught in the violence near his residence on February 25, 2020, when clashes broke out between two groups near Chand Bagh Pulia. He was allegedly abducted by a mob, assaulted and stabbed multiple times before his body was dumped into a nearby drain.

An FIR was registered at the Dayalpur police station on the complaint of Sharma's father, Ravinder Kumar, who had alleged that his son had gone out to purchase household items but did not return.

The communal violence that rocked North-East Delhi in February 2020 claimed 53 lives, left several others injured and caused extensive damage to property.