A Delhi court has sentenced a man to three-year imprisonment for promoting hatred against a particular minority community during the 2020 North East Delhi riots.
While pronouncing the quantum of sentence, Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh of Karkardooma Courts, however, ordered the release of Lokesh Kumar Solanki as he had already spent more than three years in custody.
The court had earlier this month convicted Solanki in FIR 149 of 2020 at Gokalpuri police station for the offences under Section 153A and Section 505 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
It was alleged that Solanki, through his messages, attempted to promote disharmony, feeling of enmity and hatred for Muslims. His messages were intended to cause alarm to other members of the group and induce them to commit offences against Muslims.
The Counsel appearing for the accused submitted that Solanki was a young boy with old parents and had already undergone custody for more than three years. The sentences provided for both the offences had maximum punishment of imprisonment up to three years, he pointed out.
The prosecution argued that looking at the kind of messages posted by Solanki, he should be sentenced with the maximum punishment for both the offences.
Terming his offence as very serious in nature, the court observed that during the tense period of February 2020, the convict had added fuel to the already simmering tensions by spreading messages intended to promote enmity and hatred against the Muslim community and induced the members of the group to commit crime against the community.
The judge, however, noted that Solanki had already undergone the imprisonment of more than three years, the maximum punishment which could be awarded for offences in question.
The ASJ imposed costs of Rs 50,000 on the convict and ordered his release in the case.