A Delhi court on Tuesday could not resume recording the statement of a woman in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, allegedly involving senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, after the witness developed uneasiness during the proceedings.
Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta posted the matter for tomorrow as Jagdish Kaur, a key witness in the Delhi Cantonment case, developed high blood pressure while in court.
She was taken to the hospital on Monday after suffering from the same problem. Her counsel had informed the court yesterday that her blood pressure was very high and she was being treated in Ganga Ram hospital.
Meanwhile, counsel for the Congress leader sought court’s direction to put the matter for any future date instead of fixing it on a day-to-day basis.
The court did not allow it and said the matter should be disposed of within six months, as directed by the Delhi High court.
Ms. Kaur had on July 3 identified Kumar and his nephew Balwant Khokkar and his two accomplices Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal as the persons who had allegedly instigated mobs during the carnage.
The defence counsel had refuted the allegations saying there were many inconsistencies in her statements which were recorded earlier before various authorities including the Nanavati Commission, the CBI or the district magistrate.
The cross-examination of the witness is likely to resume on Wednesday.
Ms. Kaur’s family members were killed in the riots that broke out following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
The court had on May 28 framed charges of murder and spreading enmity between two communities against Kumar in the riots case, saying there are sufficient grounds for presuming that the violence was due to a “well-planned conspiracy” in Delhi Cantonment area.
CBI had filed two charge sheets against Kumar and others on January 13 in the riots cases registered in 2005, on the recommendation of Justice (retd) G. T. Nanavati Commission which inquired into the sequence of events leading to the communal clashes.
In a separate case, the same court is likely to frame charges against the Congress leader and others on July 7 in connection with the killing of six persons at Sultanpuri area in north—west Delhi during the flare up.
Besides the Congress leader, CBI is seeking prosecution of Brahmanand Gupta, Peru, Khushal Singh and Ved Prakash in the matter.
