The Delhi High Court has granted four more weeks to the trial court to reconstruct missing records in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The move comes as the court re-examines the acquittal of five accused, including ex-Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has given the trial court four more weeks to rebuild the missing records in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case that has remained unresolved for nearly four decades. This order was passed on Monday, September 1, after the court noticed that a detailed report on the reconstruction of trial records had still not been submitted.
Earlier, on August 11, the High Court had directed the trial court to start the process of record reconstruction in connection with the acquittal of five men, including former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, who were accused in the killing of four Sikh men during the riots in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar.
These murders took place on November 1, 1984, just a day after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which triggered widespread violence against the Sikh community across the country.
According to the case records, three women had alleged that their husbands and a son were burnt alive in the mob violence. However, in 1986, the trial court acquitted Khokhar and four others, citing lack of evidence.
On Monday, a bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar expressed concern over the delay. The bench said that even after the earlier order of August 11, the report on the reconstruction of records had not been received.
The court noted,
“The trial court is requested to file the report within a period of four weeks from today,” and fixed the next hearing for October 10.
The bench also directed that a copy of the latest order, along with earlier orders in the matter, be sent to the district judge (headquarters) at Tis Hazari Court.
The Delhi High Court has stressed that the reconstruction of trial records is essential to uphold the right of victims and society to a fair investigation.
The court had already taken suo motu cognisance of the case to re-examine the 1986 verdict, stating that it had found serious issues in the earlier investigation and trial, which appeared to have been conducted in a “hasty manner”.
The High Court further made it clear that until the records of the 1986 case are rebuilt, it will not be possible to assess whether the acquittals of the accused can stand legal scrutiny.
By ordering the reconstruction, the court has highlighted that justice delayed should not mean justice denied, especially in cases as sensitive as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, where many victims and their families are still waiting for closure even after four decades.
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