1984 riots: High court takes up plea against Sajjan

The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea of kin of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, challenging his acquittal in a case.

A division bench of Justice G.S. Sistani and Justice G.P. Mittal has sought response from both SDajjan Kumar and the CBI by Aug 27.

Filing the appeal, Jagdish Kaur and Nirpreet Kaur, who had lost their relatives in the riots, sought the trial court's April 30 judgment in the case be set aside.

The plea said the trial court failed to appreciate the large body of legally admissible evidence in its verdict.

The trial court April 30 acquitted Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the killing of five people in Delhi Cantonment area during violence against the Sikhs following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on Oct 31, 1984.

"The verdict was erroneous as the trial court had failed to appreciate that there was ample legally admissible evidence against Kumar to show that he had allegedly engineered the murders of five Sikh persons in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment," the plea said.

It submitted that the trial court ignored the statements of Jagdish Kaur, Jagsher Kaur and Nirpreet Kaur, who were eye witnesses to Sajjan Kumar's presence and a "speech of hatred" he gave on Nov 2, 1984.

The trial court acquitted Sajjan Kumar, a former Lok Sabha member from Outer Delhi, but convicted five others -- former councillorBalwan Khokkar, former legislator Mahender Yadav, and Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal -- for their involvement in the case.