Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Model Town, was found guilty of assaulting a law student in 2020 by a Delhi court on Saturday, March 25. The court convicted him for voluntarily causing hurt to someone. The case was filed against him in 2020 for allegedly beating and using words prohibited under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Special judge Geetanjali Goel stated, “The prosecution has proved the guilt of Tripathi beyond reasonable doubt for the offence under Section 323 IPC and he is convicted for the same while he is acquitted of the offences under Sections 341/506 (1) IPC and under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989.”
On March 16, 2023, the court reserved the verdict in the matter, which was delivered on Saturday. On April 13, arguments on the sentence will be heard.
However, the MLA was cleared by the court of additional charges brought against him under the Indian Criminal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The judge continued, “Further, in the circumstances of the case, it is difficult to believe the case of the prosecution that the accused had uttered any caste related-remarks against the complainant, much less to show any intention to humiliate or intimidate the complainant as he belonged to Scheduled Caste.”
“Though the complainant had stated about the accused abusing him by caste name, but in the circumstances of the case as referred to above the offences under Sections 3(1)(r) and (s) of the SC/ST cannot be said to be established in the present case,” she added.
The court further ordered the AAP leader to provide an affidavit detailing his assets and income within 10 days, and the government to submit another one stating the expenses incurred by the investigating agency within 7 days.
The court also highlighted that the complaint was not made on the day of the occurrence, which was February 7, but rather on February 10. It also noted that there is no convincing explanation for the delay, and the FIR was subsequently filed on March 1. Charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had also been framed against him during the course of the hearing.
A first information report (FIR) was filed on the basis of a complaint made by Sanjeev Kumar, who claimed that Akhilesh Tripathi had stopped him and his friend Raj Kishore at Jhandewalan Chowk, Lal Bagh on February 7, 2020.
After reviewing the witness testimony and other documentary evidence, the court observed that Sanjeev Kumar and Akhilesh Pati Tripathi had both suffered simple injuries as a result of the dispute between them.
In his statement, Kumar mentioned that the latter and his supporters had beaten him with heavy objects, took away the keys of his scooty and used words prohibited under the SC/ST(Prevention of Atrocities) Act to tarnish his and his parents’ image.
The prosecution alleged that the accused and his followers stopped the complainant from throwing trash into a dumpster, beat him up, and made caste-related comments. However, Akhilesh Tripathi asserted that the complainant was disseminating campaign literature in contravention of the Election Commission’s established guidelines and that he had objected to it.
Additional public prosecutor Manish Rawat appearing for the state had argued that the words uttered by the accused satisfied the ingredients of Sections 3(1)(r) and (s) of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as Akhilesh Tripathi had intentionally insulted or humiliated Sanjeev Kumar as he was the son of an ex-councillor and belonged to SC category and the words were uttered in the presence of independent witness.
Sanjeev Kumar, who came from a wealthy family, was asserting that he was protected by legislation intended for members of weaker sectors of society, which he was not, and that the intimidation was not covered by the Act, according to the solicitor appearing for the offender. More emphasis was placed on the fact that the former made no allegations that the latter had attempted to intimidate or degrade him because he belonged to a certain caste.
After reading through witness statements and hearing both sides’ arguments, the court concluded, “It is difficult to believe the case of the prosecution that the accused had uttered any caste-related remarks against the complainant, much less to show any intention to humiliate or intimidate the complainant as he belonged to Scheduled Caste.”
It further noted, “It cannot be discounted that the incident had taken place and the MLC of the complainant shows simple injuries. The MLC of the accused also shows simple injuries but on that basis, the offence committed by the accused cannot be washed away. In view of the same, the offence under Section 323 IPC would be made out against the accused.”
The Delhi Police charged him with assault last year after he attacked and wounded two people who were attempting to file a complaint about a sewer issue in their neighbourhood.
Akhilesh Pati Tripathi’s brother-in-law Om Singh, personal assistant (PA), Shiv Shankar Pandey alias Vishal Pandey, and a man named Prince Raghuvanshi were all arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for tickets to the 2022 Delhi Municipal Elections.
Tripathi was also convicted in 2021, by a Delhi court for causing unlawful assembly and for obstructing public servants from doing their duty in a 2013 case.
