New Delhi, July 3
The Delhi High Court has refused to stay trial of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Justice Pratibha Rani, however, restrained the trial court from delivering its judgment till July 27 when Kumar’s petition in the court would be taken up for hearing again. Kumar has challenged the trial court’s refusal to let him use a riot victim’s statements to various judicial commissions to defend himself.

The final arguments in the trial court have been slated for July 12. Kumar had wanted to make use of the statements of Jagdish Kaur to confront her in the trial court. The court had rejected this plea on June 2.

The CBI had opposed Kumar’s plea, contending that under the Commission of Inquiry Act, the affidavits and statements of witnesses given before any commission could not be used against them for the purpose of questioning their testimonies in court.

According to Kumar, the CBI and the witnesses were using the affidavits filed before the Ranganath Misra and GT Nanavati Commissions. In that case, he could not be prevented from doing the same.

Sajjan Kumar is facing trial for his role in the killings of six persons in the Delhi Cantonment area during the riots. The other accused in the case are Balwan Khokkar, Kishan Khokkar, Mahender Yadav, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal.