A Delhi court said WhatsApp messages can’t be strong evidence in murder cases from the 2020 Delhi riots. All 12 accused were acquitted as there were no strong witnesses and chats alone weren’t enough.
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NEW DELHI: A Delhi court clearly said that WhatsApp chats cannot be used as main proof in criminal cases. This important judgment came in five murder cases related to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots, where 12 accused persons were on trial for the killing of nine Muslim men.
The court explained that these chats can only be used as “supporting proof”, not as “substantive evidence”.
In these five cases, all 12 accused were the same, and police had strongly relied on WhatsApp group chats to prove their guilt. The chats were from a group called “Kattar Hindu Ekta”, which was also named in multiple charge sheets filed by the police.
One of the main accused, Lokesh Solanki, had allegedly posted in the WhatsApp group: “Your brother has killed 2 Muslim men at 9 o’clock.” His message led to the arrest of other people who were later charged with murder.
However, the court was not convinced that this message was proof of real action.
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In all five judgments, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala of Karkardooma Court said:
“Such posts may be put in the group solely with the intention of becoming a hero in the estimation of other members of the group. It could be a boast, without truth. Therefore, the relied upon chats cannot be substantive evidence to show that the accused… had actually killed two Muslim persons. These chats at the most could be used as a corroborative piece of evidence.”
The police used the same WhatsApp messages in all nine murder cases, but this strategy did not hold up in court. The judge also pointed out that there were no trustworthy witnesses in these cases.
In the Hashim Ali murder case, the judgment was delivered on April 30, where the court found that no one had seen the crime happen. All 12 accused were acquitted.
The court said:
“They (WhatsApp chats) cannot form the sole basis for conviction due to their inherent weaknesses and they must be supported by independent, reliable evidence.”
Only one person came forward as a witness, and even that was not strong enough.
In another case about the murder of Amin, the judgment came on March 28.
The court said:
“Sure about the murder of Amin, but not sure about the incident of his murder.”
Again, only one witness had not turned hostile, while all others did.
In a separate March 28 judgment, related to the murder of Bhure Ali, the judge said:
“None of the witnesses vouched to have seen the incident of assault and murder on Bhure.”
In the case of Hamza, the judgment was dated March 27.
The court noted:
“Not sure about the incident wherein Hamza (a riot victim) was killed.”
It also said:
“… and when there is no clarity from the evidence as to which mob had killed Hamza, then it is only a formality to say that there is no evidence on the record to show that any of the accused was a member of the culprit mob.”
In this case, all witnesses turned hostile.
But in a ruling on May 13, while all accused were acquitted of murder charges, the court convicted Lokesh Solanki for posting hate content and trying to create violence between communities.
The court said:
“It is also well apparent that the intent of the messages posted by accused Lokesh was to instigate the others against Muslim persons. This act was in fact like spreading hatred for Muslim persons and to instigate others to resort to violence against them.”
According to court records, from February 2020 to February 2025, Delhi Police filed over 700 FIRs related to the riots, including cases of murder and arson. Out of 109 judgments delivered so far, 90 ended in acquittals (82%) and only 19 resulted in convictions (18%). In 57% of the acquittals, witnesses had turned hostile.
This set of judgments highlights how important reliable witnesses and solid evidence are in criminal trials—and that messages on social media like WhatsApp alone are not enough to prove a person guilty of serious crimes like murder.
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