‘Anti-Sikh’ riots 1984: Delhi High Court accepts CBI’s appeal against Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal

Sajjan Kumar. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Delhi High Court accepted the appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. acquittal of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar and others in a murder and riot case. 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

In an Order passed on October 21, a Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Amit Sharma granted ‘leave to appeal’ to the investigating agency against the trial court’s order dated September 20, 2023 and listed the matter for further consideration in December.

‘Leave to appeal’ is a formal permission given by a court to a party to appeal a decision to a higher court. “In the opinion of this Court, the CBI deserves to be granted leave to appeal…The leave petition is allowed…It should be granted,” the Court said in the Judgment.

The court also accepted the appeal of victim Sheela Kaur in the case against the acquittal order and asked the registry to prepare a report on the existence of further appeals related to the 1984 riots against the present accused.

On September 20, 2023, Special Judge Geetanjli Goel acquitted Kumar in the case by giving him the “benefit of doubt” and said that the prosecution “failed to prove the charge against the accused beyond reasonable doubt”.

The trial court had also acquitted the other two accused, Ved Prakash Pial and Brahmanand Gupta, on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove the case of murder and rioting against them. A Sikh man Surjit Singh was killed during the incident in Sultanpuri.

The slow and winding road to justice: Sajjan Kumar’s conviction

Gambling exists among various groups based on religion, race, etc. He was charged with various offenses punishable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including inciting enmity on the basis (Section 153A), abetting any crime (Section 109), murder (Section 302) and sedition. (147).

The riots broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. Kumar is currently lodged in Tihar jail awaiting life imprisonment after being convicted in another riots-related case.