Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel convicted in 2015 rioting case

Delhi Assembly Speaker and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Ram Niwas Goel has been convicted in a rioting case at the house of a realtor in an East Delhi colony in 2015. Ram Niwas Goel has been convicted for trespassing and voluntarily causing hurt. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on October 18.

An FIR was registered against Ram Niwas Goel following a complaint by a local builder, Manish Ghai who alleged that the AAP's Shahdara MLA and his supporters raided one of his houses in Vivek Vihar on the night of February 6, 2015, a day before the Delhi Assembly elections.

A year later, Ram Niwas Goel was charge-sheeted by the Delhi Police for allegedly rioting and causing hurt at the house of the realtor. The chargesheet also named seven other people who were accompanying Ram Niwas Goel during the incident.

According to the complaint filed against Ram Niwas Goel, the AAP MLA had allegedly raided the house of Ghai accusing him of stashing liquor, blankets and other stuff for distribution ahead of the polls. The raids were conducted just a day before the Delhi assembly polls.

The AAP leaders have, however, refuted these claims, saying they had gone to the house with a police team comprising the local Station House Officer and Assistant Commissioner of Police among others after making a PCR call in this regard.

"As per the complainant, some labourers were staying at a house that was owned by him. He received a call from one of them at about 9.30 pm on February 6, 2015, about Goel and his associates forcibly entering the building and damaging the property," police said.

The complainant also alleged that the group broke almirah, drawers, kitchen items, window panes and mirrors in the house. The labourers were allegedly physically assaulted when they tried to resist.

(With inputs from PTI)