Tahir Hussain gives first public reaction after being sentenced to life in prison

NEW DELHI: Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain on Friday said he would challenge his conviction and life sentence in the Delhi High Court after a Delhi court sentenced him and four others to life imprisonment for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots."I will get justice from the High Court," Hussain told reporters after the Karkardooma Court pronounced the sentence.Additional sessions Judge Praveen Singh sentenced Hussain along with co-convicts Shah Alam, Mehtab, Gul Firoz and Mohammad Riyan after hearing arguments on the quantum of punishment. While the Delhi Police had sought the death penalty, calling the murder a "rarest of rare" case, the court held that the prosecution had failed to establish that the convicts were beyond the possibility of reform and instead awarded life imprisonment.The court had convicted all five accused earlier this month. The judgment was delivered amid tight security in a packed courtroom attended by senior Delhi Police officials, including officers from the Crime Branch.During sentencing, Special public prosecutor Madhukar Pandey argued that Sharma's murder was premeditated and exceptionally brutal. He told the court that the IB officer suffered 51 injuries, seven of which were individually sufficient to cause death. The prosecution alleged Sharma, who was unarmed, was surrounded by a mob, repeatedly assaulted, dragged with a cloth tied around his neck and his body dumped in a nearby drain.The prosecution further argued that Hussain, who was serving as an AAP councillor at the time of the riots, had a public duty to protect citizens but instead participated in the conspiracy that led to Sharma's killing. It urged the court to impose capital punishment, describing the crime as one that shocked the collective conscience of society.Hussain's counsel Rajiv Mohan opposed the death penalty, arguing that capital punishment could not be imposed in every murder case. The defence maintained that the prosecution had failed to establish any conspiracy or assign Hussain a specific role in the killing and urged the court to consider mitigating circumstances while determining the sentence.The case relates to the killing of 26-year-old IB staffer Ankit Sharma during the communal violence that erupted in northeast Delhi in February 2020, leaving more than 50 people dead and hundreds injured. Sharma's body was recovered from a drain near Hussain's residence after he went missing during the riots. Hussain has consistently denied the allegations against him and is expected to challenge the verdict before the Delhi High Court.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.