New Delhi: The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea filed by former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar seeking suspension of his life sentence in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
A bench comprising Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Rajesh Bindal asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the CBI, to get certificates from jail authorities on Khokhar’s conduct and behaviour.
Bhati told the bench that Khokhar’s bail plea was rejected on three occasions in the past.
Khokhar is currently serving his life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail
Khokhar is currently serving his life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Besides Khokhar, former Congress Membmer of Parliament (MP) Sajjan Kumar is also serving life sentence in the case in Tihar Jail. Former MLA Mahender Yadav was also sentenced to 10-year imprisonment in the case and he died of Covid in Mandoli jail.
Riots broke out following assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984
Following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards, riots broke out and this case relates to the killing of five Sikhs in the Raj Nagar Part 1 area in Palm Colony in South West Delhi on November 1 and 2, 1984 and the burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part II.
High Court upheld Khokhar’s sentence and overturned acquittal of Kumar
The Delhi High Court upheld Khokhar’s sentence in the case in 2018 and overturned acquittal of Kumar by the trial court in 2013.
The High Court, while overturning Kumar’s acquittal, said that a majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency and the criminals escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.
“This was an extraordinary case where it was going to be impossible to proceed against A-1 (Kumar) in the normal scheme of things because there appeared to be ongoing large-scale efforts to suppress the cases against him by not even recording or registering them. Even if they were registered they were not investigated properly and even the investigations which sawing progress were not carried to logical end of a charge sheet actually being filed,” the High Court said while setting aside trial court order to acquit Kumar in the case.
