53-Year-Old Man Acquitted After 33 Years in 1993 Mumbai Riots Case Due to Insufficient Evidence

The verdict was delivered on December 5, approximately 33 years after the communal violence occurred (Representational).

Mumbai:

A court has acquitted a 53-year-old man in connection with a 1993 Mumbai riots case, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish his involvement in the violence.

Mumbai experienced one of its most severe communal riots following the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

In the judgment delivered on December 5, almost 33 years after the violence, additional sessions judge M B Oza cleared Asif Ali Shaikh of charges under the Indian Penal Code including attempt to murder, rioting, and participation in an unlawful assembly.

According to the court order, which became available on Thursday, the prosecution failed to demonstrate Shaikh's active participation in either the alleged unlawful assembly or rioting activities.

The prosecution's case stated that 300 to 400 individuals from two communities engaged in violent clashes in the Wadala (East) area on January 12, 1993. During these clashes, stones, soda bottles, burning objects, and tube lights were hurled at residences and factories.

Law enforcement attempted to disperse the crowd using batons and eventually fired rifle rounds into the air. Four people sustained injuries during the stone-pelting incident, according to the prosecution.

The court had previously acquitted 14 accused individuals in the same case between 2003 and 2023, citing insufficient evidence. Shaikh was taken into custody in July 2025.

The judge observed that no direct or circumstantial evidence existed to prove that Shaikh, along with other accused persons, constituted an unlawful assembly.

A witness for the prosecution testified about the presence of a violent mob but could not identify the accused as one of the participants in the violence, the court noted.

No identification parade was conducted to verify the identity of the accused, the court stated, concluding that there was "absolutely no evidence on record to show the complicity of the accused in the crime." An estimated 900 people lost their lives in the riots that occurred in December 1992 and January 1993.