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’84 riots: verdict today

New Delhi, December 22
After 18 years of the registration of FIRs in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases in which senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar is an accused along with 16 others, a Delhi court will pronounce its final judgement tomorrow.

Additional Sessions Judge Manju Goel reserved the order after hearing final arguments from both the prosecution and the defence on Thursday. The judge said she would deliver the judgement on Monday.

On November 1, 1984, about 50 Sikhs were killed and many more were injured in a riot in the Sultanpuri area, Delhi, following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Besides Sajjan Kumar, the other accused are Suresh Chand, Shis Ram, Udal Singh, Brahma Nand Gupta, Omprakash, Peeriya, Mangla, Jai Bhagwan, Hanuman Prasad, Satvir Singh, Jai Kishan and Mahender Singh. Four other accused - Nathu Ram, Islam, Rajender and Asla Ram — had died during the trial.

The court had tried all accused in two FIRs, the first registered in 1984 and the other by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 1990, in which Sajjan Kumar was the prime accused.

The CBI had registered a case following the recommendation of the Jain and Bannerjee Commission in 1990 after a complaint filed by a woman stating that her husband had been killed by a mob led by Sajjan Kumar. The agency had filed a charge sheet against 13 persons, including Sajjan Kumar, for rioting, under Sections 47, 148, 149, 435 and 455 of the Indian Penal Code.

The CBI had examined 27 prosecution witnesses to prove the case against the Congress leader. Sajjan Kumar had denied that he led the riot in November, 1984, following Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her security personnel. UNI