The Delhi government will file six appeals in the Supreme Court against acquittals in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. The court Today (Feb 17) directed the government to submit appeals within six weeks.
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it will file six appeals against the acquittals in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.
The case was being heard in response to a PIL filed by S. Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a former member of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. In 2018, the Supreme Court, acting on his plea, set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reopen 199 cases that were previously closed without proper investigation.
On Monday, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who was representing the Delhi government, informed a bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan that the government has now decided to challenge these acquittals in the Supreme Court.
The court acknowledged this and directed the Delhi government to file the appeals within six weeks. The bench also instructed that the special leave petitions should be presented before Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna for linking them with the ongoing case.
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During the hearing, senior advocate H.S. Phoolka, who was representing petitioner Kahlon, pointed out that in many of these cases, the prosecution was “hand in glove with the accused in the case.” He further argued that:
“These are not normal cases. There was cover-up and the state did not prosecute properly. These cases are crimes against humanity.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court had criticized the Delhi Police for not appealing against the acquittals in these riot cases. The court stressed that prosecution should be conducted “seriously and not just for the sake of it.”
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots broke out in Delhi after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The violence led to the killing of thousands of people from the Sikh community, and even after 40 years, the legal battle over these cases has taken several turns.
As per the findings of the one-man Nanavati Commission, which was set up to investigate the riots, a total of 587 FIRs were registered in Delhi.
The commission reported that 2,733 people were killed in the violence. However, about 240 cases were closed by the police as “untraced,” and around 250 cases resulted in acquittals.
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