HC denies bail to 1984 riots case convict Khokhar

The Delhi High Court today dismissed the bail plea of a former Congress councillor serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said that convict Balwan Khokhar was getting the "best" healthcare in Tihar Jail here.
The court's order came on Khokhar's plea for interim bail on the ground that he wanted to undergo treatment at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for a hairline fracture on his nose.
Khokhar's counsel had claimed that his client had fallen down in jail on December 17, 2017 and suffered the injury and there was a swelling on his face.

Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
They have challenged their conviction and the award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013. Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was acquitted in the case by the trial court.
The trial court had awarded life term to Khokhar, Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal and three-year jail term to two others former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

The convicts have filed appeals before the high court while the CBI too has filed an appeal alleging they were engaged in "a planned communal riot" and "religious cleansing". The agency has also appealed against the acquittal of Kumar.