Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
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Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh sentenced Hussain and four others to life imprisonment in the case. The Delhi Police had sought the death penalty, describing the killing of Ankit Sharma as “exceptionally brutal” and “cold-blooded”. However, the court rejected the plea.
Hussain, who represented the Nehru Vihar ward in northeast Delhi, was a sitting AAP councillor when the communal violence broke out in February 2020.
Before entering politics, he was known locally as a businessman and later emerged as a prominent political figure in northeast Delhi.
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After his name surfaced in the case, the AAP suspended him, and the party has repeatedly maintained that he has had no association with it since 2020.
After being suspended by the AAP, Hussain joined the AIMIM in December 2024 and contested the 2025 Delhi Assembly election from the Mustafabad constituency.
In January 2025, the Supreme Court granted him custody parole to campaign for the election. He eventually finished third with 33,474 votes.
In addition to Ankit Sharma case, Hussain is also facing trial in the larger Delhi riots conspiracy case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other penal provisions.
The case pertains to the killing of IB official Ankit Sharma, whose body was recovered from a drain near Chand Bagh on February 26, 2020, a day after he went missing amid the riots.
While being escorted out of the Karkardooma court, Hussain told reporters, “Insaaf High Court se milega (Justice will come from the High Court).” He added, “The High Court will give justice; it is not too late.”
(With inputs from Arnabjit Sur)
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According to the prosecution, Sharma was abducted, repeatedly assaulted and stabbed by a mob before his body was dumped in the drain.
On July 13, Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh convicted Hussain and four others of Sharma’s murder. The court held that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Hussain was part of an unlawful assembly that had gathered at Chand Bagh Pulia with a common object to commit rioting, loot, arson and damage to Hindu properties.
The court also convicted him of rioting and promoting enmity between different religious groups, but acquitted him and the other accused of the charge of criminal conspiracy.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh sentenced Hussain and four others to life imprisonment in the case. The Delhi Police had sought the death penalty, describing the killing of Ankit Sharma as “exceptionally brutal” and “cold-blooded”. However, the court rejected the plea.
Hussain denied the allegations throughout the trial. A day after being sentenced to life imprisonment, he said he would seek justice from the Delhi High Court.
