1984 anti-Sikh riots: 40 years on, major highlights and where cases stand
Delhi witnessed large-scale violence and killings of persons from the Sikh community following former PM Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her bodyguards in 1984 and the cases stemming from the incident have seen some major twists and turns forty years on.
According to those at the forefront of the legal fight on behalf of the victims and their kin, say while there have been significant milestones—reopening of cases and prosecution of political heavyweights—the road to justice is a long one.
According to the Nanavati Commission Report, there were a total 587 FIRs registered in Delhi in relation to 1984 riots that witnessed 2,733 people being killed. Of the total, the police shut about 240 cases as “untraced” and about 250 cases resulted in acquittals.
However, it was only in May 2023 that the central probe agency the CBI filed a chargesheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his alleged role in the killings of three people on November 1, 1984.
The CBI alleged Tytler “incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurdwara Azad Market area in the national capital on November 1, 1984. The incident resulted in the burning down of the gurdwara and killing of Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Guru Charan Singh.
Developments in numbers:
*Total cases registered in Delhi: 587
*Number of casualties: 2,733
*Cases closed: 240
*Total convictions in cases: 27
*Total acquittals in cases: 250
*Cases pending: 20
Senior Advocate H S Phoolka has been representing the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots in several cases over the decades. He says Tytler’s cases is a rare one in Indian history as it was reopened after three consecutive closure reports in 2007, 2009 and 2014, giving him a clean chit.
The closure reports were rejected by the court, which in September, 2024 ordered framing of charges for murder and other offences in the case.
The Delhi High Court, however, is scheduled to hear an appeal by Tytler challenging the framing of charges in the case on November 29.
About 27 cases of the total 587 FIRs saw 400 persons being convicted. Of these, about 50 persons were convicted for murder, including former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar.
Kumar, an influential Congress leader and an MP at that time, was accused in a case pertaining to the killings of five persons in Delhi’s Palam Colony on November 1 and 2 in 1984. He was awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in the case and his appeal challenging the punishment is pending before the Supreme Court.
Two other appeals are pending before the high court against Kumar’s acquittal in two cases by the trial courts.
Kumar is currently facing three cases, including the one related to the violence near a gurudwara in Gulab Bagh, Nawada in Delhi, wherein he is an undertrial.
A trial court in October earlier, concluded the final arguments against Kumar in a case related to the deaths of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar area of Delhi on November 1, 1984.
One of the cases also saw an unprecedented development when a trial court judge pronounced his sentencing verdict of death penalty inside the Tihar Jail premises in 2018. The case, relating to the killings of two men during the riots, also gained prominence for being the first-ever conviction after a Special Investigation Team was formed in 2015.
In addition to the cases of these politicians, the trial in the 1984 riots cases related to Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas in Delhi, is currently underway, making it one of the 20 cases pending in various courts.
