The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail for a week to a convict serving life term in connection with a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case to enable him look after his wife, who is set to undergo surgery next week.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra released former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar on bail as his wife is slated to undergo a surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on May 15.
While restraining the convict from travelling out of Delhi, the Bench asked him to surrender immediately after the expiry of a week. It also asked him to furnish a bail bond of ₹25,000 with one surety of the like amount.
Past conduct
Khokhar, who is aged, had urged the court for a two-month bail to look after his wife. However, his plea was opposed by the CBI on grounds that his conduct in the past wasn’t satisfactory.
Khokhar, Girdhari Lal, one retired Naval officer and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family at Raj Nagar in Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
They had challenged both their conviction and the life sentence punishment by a trial court in May 2013. The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar but awarded life terms to Khokhar, Girdhari Lal and the retired Naval officer. It had sentenced former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar to three years’ imprisonment.
The convicts have filed appeals before the High Court, while the CBI has filed an appeal alleging that they were engaged in “a planned communal riot and religious cleansing”. The agency has also appealed against Mr. Kumar’s acquittal.
The High Court had on March 29 issued show-cause notices to 11 accused, including Khokhar and Yadav in connection with five anti-Sikh riots cases.
The accused, who were acquitted of the charges, were asked why the court shouldn’t order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of “horrifying crimes against humanity”. The Bench had issued notices on complaints filed regarding the violent incidents on November 1 and 2, 1984, in Delhi Cantonment.
