The prosecution, counsel for the victims and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) in their separate submissions have demanded death sentence for two convicts in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in south Delhi’s Mahipalpur.
Additional sessions judge Ajay Pandey had on Wednesday held Naresh Seharawat and Yashpal Singh guilty of killing two Sikhs and injuring three relatives of one of the deceased and looting their shops and the house where they had hidden themselves to escape the marauding mob.
Counsel for the victims, senior advocate H.S. Phoolka, on Thursday submitted before the judge that it was a rarest of rare case where the accused deserved death sentence.
The court had held that Naresh Seharawat was leading the mob with a can of kerosene in his hand, Mr. Phoolka further submitted.
The prosecution argued that the killing was part of genocide of members of a particular community warranting the maximum sentence of death for the convicts.
Concurring with the submissions by Mr. Phoolka and the prosecution, counsel for the DSGMC submitted that the accused deserved hanging.
Later, the judge reserved for November 20 order on the quantum of sentence.
Slapping condemned
Meanwhile, Mr. Phoolka condemned the slapping of accused Yashpal Singh allegedly by BJP MLA Manjider Singh Sirsa, saying these incidents would adversely affect the cases of the victims. The MLA allegedly slapped the accused when he was being taken to the lock-up on the Patiala House courts premises after the court proceedings.
