A Sessions court here is expected to pronounce on Tuesday its verdict in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in which Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and five others are accused. District Judge J. R. Aryan had reserved his judgment on April 3 after the CBI and the defence completed final arguments.
Besides Mr. Kumar, five others are also facing trial for the five murders committed on November 1 and 2, 1984, in the Raj Nagar area in Delhi Cantonment police limits. The other accused are former MLA Mahender Yadav, former MCD councillor Balwan Khokhar, Krishan Khokhar, Capt. Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal. The case was registered by the CBI in October 2005 and the charge sheet was filed on February 1, 2010. Both the prosecution and defence examined 17 witnesses each during the trial.
The present case deals with the death of five Sikhs -- Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvinder Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh. Jagdish Kaur, wife of Kehar and mother of Gurpreet, is the main CBI witness in the case. Raghuvinder, Narender and Kuldeep were cousins of Ms. Kaur and brothers of another witness Jagsher Singh. Nirpreet Kaur, whose father Nirmal Singh, was allegedly killed by some of the accused is another key witness in the case.
All three witnesses had deposed in the court that they saw Sajjan Kumar inciting mobs to kill Sikhs during the riots in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards.
The trial court had in May 2010 framed charges against Kumar and the five others under Sections 302 (murder), 395 (dacoity), 427 (mischief to cause damage to property), 153-A (promoting enmity between different communities), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and other provisions of the IPC.
High Court cancels verdict on Sajjan’s petition
The Delhi High Court on Monday cancelled at the last moment the scheduled pronouncement of judgment on a petition by senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar seeking quashing of framing of charges against him by a trial court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case related to the killing of six persons in the Sultanpuri area in North-West Delhi.
While cancelling the pronouncement, Justice Suresh Kait said that “while dictating the verdict, I felt that this matter should be heard further”.
He posted the matter for further hearing on May 15. He had reserved the judgment in December last year.
Besides Mr. Kumar, his co-accused Ved Prakash Pial alias Vedu Pradhan and Brahmanand Gupta have also moved the High Court against framing of charges against them in the case.
Sheela Kaur, the complainant in the matter, has filed a cross-appeal seeking slapping of criminal conspiracy charge against Kumar and the other four accused in the case.
The trial court had in July 2010 framed charges against Kumar, Brahmanand Gupta, Peru, Khushal Singh and Ved Prakash in connection with the case in which six persons were killed in the Sultanpuri area in the riot which had broken out in the wake of assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Besides charges of murder and rioting, the trial court had also framed charges for the offence of spreading enmity between the two communities.
Meanwhile, a trial court is scheduled to pronounce on Tuesday verdict in another anti-Sikh riot case against Kumar and five others.
