Ex-AAP leader Tahir Hussain, 4 others get life term in Ankit Sharma murder case; court denies death penalty request
The Karkardooma court sentenced Tahir Hussain, Nazim, Qasim, Javed, and Anas to life terms; all five had been found guilty earlier this month on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, and other grave offences.
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A Delhi court on Friday, July 31, sentenced former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain to life imprisonment along with four other men convicted in the killing of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma, who lost his life during the 2020 riots in northeast Delhi. The court rejected the prosecution's request for the death penalty, but also described the killing as an act of "utmost brutality" carried out purely on religious grounds, calling the cruelty involved "nauseating and sickening."
The court, however, found that the prosecution had not presented any evidence indicating that the convicts possessed a violent temperament or an ongoing tendency toward such crimes. It also pointed out that none of them had any prior criminal record. It further observed that the convicts were capable of reform and could be guided to abide by the rule of law. While acknowledging there was no legal barrier to imposing the death penalty, the court held that such a sentence demands circumstances that go beyond simply being part of an unlawful assembly or committing the offence itself.
Earlier, on July 13, the Karkardooma Court had found Tahir Hussain, Nazim, Qasim, Javed, and Anas guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy, and related charges in connection with Sharma's death. Ankit Sharma, an IB employee, was killed amid the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020, with his body later found in a nearby drain, making this one of the most closely watched prosecutions to emerge from the riots.
The Karkardooma court sentenced Tahir Hussain, Nazim, Qasim, Javed, and Anas to life terms; all five had been found guilty earlier this month on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, and other grave offences. Responding to the verdict, Tahir Hussain said he intends to contest the conviction in the Delhi High Court, voicing confidence that justice awaits him there. "We will go to the High Court. We will get justice from the High Court," he said following the sentencing.
He went further, alleging that the trial had been allegedly rigged. "Ye match fixed tha. Insaaf milega toh High Court se milega. (This match was fixed. If I get justice, it will be from the High Court)." While delivering the sentence, the court characterized the offence as "very serious," noting that it had disturbed the collective conscience of society and compelled introspection about the extent of the brutality unleashed during the communal violence.
The judge pointed out that the killing took place amid the communal riots that gripped northeast Delhi, and that it had been executed with "utmost brutality," motivated entirely by the victim's religious identity. "The manner in which the crime was committed was of utmost brutality, done solely on the ground of religion," the court noted.
Delhi | Karkardooma Court awarded life imprisonment to former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in the murder case of IB official Ankit Sharma during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots pic.twitter.com/Zc20npeIBi
— ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2026
Describing what happened to the victim's remains, the court said Ankit Sharma's body had been dragged "like that of an animal" all the way to Chand Bagh Pulia before being dumped into a drain. "The barbarity committed is nauseating and sickening," the judge stated while pronouncing the sentence. Even so, the court turned down the Delhi Police's request for the death penalty. The prosecution had pushed for capital punishment for all five, contending that the case met the threshold of "rarest of rare."
The court, however, found that the prosecution had not presented any evidence indicating that the convicts possessed a violent temperament or an ongoing tendency toward such crimes. It also pointed out that none of them had any prior criminal record. It further observed that the convicts were capable of reform and could be guided to abide by the rule of law. While acknowledging there was no legal barrier to imposing the death penalty, the court held that such a sentence demands circumstances that go beyond simply being part of an unlawful assembly or committing the offence itself.
Earlier, on July 13, the Karkardooma Court had found Tahir Hussain, Nazim, Qasim, Javed, and Anas guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy, and related charges in connection with Sharma's death. Ankit Sharma, an IB employee, was killed amid the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020, with his body later found in a nearby drain, making this one of the most closely watched prosecutions to emerge from the riots.