Sajjan's plea to intimidate court, victims await justice: CBI

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar is "intimidating" the court by allegedly casting aspersion on a judge hearing an appeal against his acquittal by the trial court as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims still await justice, the CBI told Delhi High Court today.
In its reply to Kumar's application in which he has sought transfer of the matter alleging bias by Justice P S Teji, one of the judges of the division bench hearing the appeal, CBI said it was an attempt to cause "obstruction" and delay in the proceedings and frustrate the course of justice.
"It is submitted that there was a delay of 26 years already when the trial commenced in the present case in 2010. It is now more than 30 years that the case has not been decided in finality and the victims are still awaiting justice," CBI said in its reply to Kumar's plea before a bench of Justices Gita Mittal and P S Teji.

"While the trial was to commence on a day-to-day basis, it took three years for it to reach a conclusion. Even after the conclusion of the order, three years have elapsed and the riots victims are still waiting for justice to be served to them," the reply, filed by advocates D P Singh and Tarannum Cheema, said.
It said that by way of this application, Kumar was trying to "make a mockery of the judicial system" by saying that he was subjected to harassment because of the delay in the case.
Kumar, who was acquitted by a trial court in 2013 in a case relating to the killing of five Sikhs by a mob in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar area during the riots, has claimed in his plea that the case should be transferred to another bench of high court as Justice Teji had heard anticipatory bail plea in this case when he was a trial court judge.

While acquitting Kumar, the trial court had held five others guilty and awarded varying jail terms to them for being part of the mob that killed the Sikhs.

However, CBI sought dismissal of Kumar's plea saying it was a "mere psychological offensive strategy of playing mind games" with the bench and the allegations of biasness were clearly unfounded.
It claimed that the application was "merely for the purpose of intimidating the court, to obfuscate the issues and to cause obstruction and delay the proceedings" and such a frivolous allegation against a judge defies the fundamentals of administration of justice.
Regarding the allegations that Justice Teji had heard the

anticipatory bail plea in the case when he was a trial judge, CBI said the judge had not gone into the merits of the case at that stage.
"The present application by the applicant (Kumar) is nothing but an attempt of brow-beating and delaying the proceedings before this court," the agency said.
Besides Kumar, two other persons, who were convicted by the trial court in the matter, have also moved similar pleas in the high court.
CBI has moved the high court challenging the acquittal of Kumar in a case relating to killing of five Sikhs -- Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singhand Kuldeep Singh, all belonging to the same family, by a mob during the riots.

Ex-councillor Balwan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal were given life term, while the remaining two, former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokkar,were given three-year jail term each for their lesser roles. They have also challenged their conviction in high court.
Besides CBI, the victims' family members Jagdish and Nirpreet Kaur had also challenged the trial court order in the case.
The trial court had acquitted Kumar in the case saying he deserved the "benefit of doubt" as key witness Jagdish Kaur did not name him as an accused in her statement given to the Justice Ranganath Mishra panel in 1985.

CBI, in its appeal before the high court, has alleged that the trial court had erred in acquitting Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the riots that broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
The case against Kumar, a former Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi, and others was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by Justice G T Nanavati Commission. CBI had filed two chargesheets against him and other accused in January 2010.