Supreme court accepts CBI’s plea against Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal

The Delhi high court accepted the CBI’s appeal against the acquittal of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar and others in a murder and rioting case related to the 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, CBI deserves to be granted leave to appeal. The court panel stated that the petition for permission was accepted.

The court also accepted the objection filed by victim Sheela Kaur in the case filed against the acquittal and asked the registry to submit a report regarding the existence of further objections against the present accused in connection with the 1984 riots.

On September 20, 2023, special judge Geetanjli Goel acquitted Kumar in a case by giving him the “benefit of doubt” and said 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 named Surjit Singh was killed during the incident in Sultanpuri.

Kumar was charged with various offenses punishable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC); These include religion, race, etc. including inciting enmity between different groups for reasons (Section 153A), abetting any crime (Section 109), murder (Section 302) and rioting. (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 and sentenced to life imprisonment after conviction in another riots-related case.