1984 anti-Sikh riots: Plea to shift case rejected

NEW DELHI - A city court Thursday rejected the plea of a co-accused of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case that the matter be shifted to Rohini or Dwarka district courts.

District and Sessions Judge G.P. Mittal said: There is no criteria under which this transfer should take place to courts in Rohini or Dwarka. Also a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge to look into this case is not needed.

Mittal sent the case to Additional Sessions Judge (ADJ) Sunita Gupta for hearing on April 5.

In his petition, Kushal Singh, a co-accused of Sajjan Kumar, said the CBI court, which was hearing the matter till now, had no jurisdiction to hear the case.

On March 27, Special CBI judge P.S. Teji, while taking note of Singh’s plea for transferring the matter, said: “Though the court has the power to hear this case, I am sending it to the district and sessions judge to decide.”

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Lokesh Kumar March 20 sent the two 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases involving Sajjan Kumar and nine others to a special CBI judge for trial.

On March 10, the ACMM’s court granted bail to Sajjan Kumar and others on furnishing a surety and personal bond of Rs.50,000 each. The CBI also provided a copy of the charge sheet to all of them.

Sajjan Kumar, Kushal Singh, Girdhari Lal, Balwan Khokhar, Mahender Yadav, Maha Singh, Capt. Bhagmal, Santosh Rani and Krishna Khokhar were named as accused in the murder of five people in Delhi Cantonment in the 1984 riots following then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Sajjan Kumar and others in two cases for allegedly instigating mobs after the assassination Oct 31, 1984. More than 3,000 Sikhs were killed across Delhi.