1984 anti-Sikh riots: Supreme Court refuses to entertain furlough plea by ex-Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar
New Delhi, April 22
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a furlough plea by former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, who is serving life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
As a Bench led by Justice JK Maheshwari made it clear that it was not inclined to entertain the plea, Khokhar’s counsel chose to withdraw the petition which was “dismissed as withdrawn”.
The Bench, however, said the petitioner could approach the competent authority for furlough.
Khokhar’s counsel had earlier said he was seeking furlough for maintaining social ties.
Around 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs, had died in the riots in the national capital in the aftermath of assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Besides Khokhar, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar is serving a life term in the case. Ex-MLA Mahender Yadav, who was awarded 10-year sentence, died from Covid in Mandoli jail.
Sajjan Kumar and Balwan Khokhar are lodged in Tihar jail since their conviction on December 17, 2018.
Khokhar’s life sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2018, while it overturned Kumar’s acquittal by the trial court in 2013.
The case relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I in Palam Colony in southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984, and burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II.
