Verdict in 1984 anti-sikh riots pronounced in Tihar after a petition citing security reasons: Police

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The verdict in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was pronounced on Monday in Tihar Jail after the local police moved a petition in the High Court citing security reasons and possibility of attack on the convicts on the premises of the Delhi court, said a senior police officer.

The local police treaded a cautious path because they did not want to have a situation like 2016 when the then JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was allegedly attacked in the Patiala House Court.

A Delhi court Tuesday awarded death penalty to convict Yashpal Singh for killing two men in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the first capital punishment in the case.

Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey also awarded life term to co-convict Naresh Sherawat in the case.

The officer said the local police had moved a petition on Monday requesting them to not announce the verdict in the court, since they were anticipating a law and order situation.

"We had anticipated that the convicts might be attacked since an untoward incident had happened last week also. The court accepted our petition and ordered that the verdict be pronounced in Tihar Jail. A large crowd had gathered at the court premises before the verdict and had the verdict been announced in the court, there would have been chances of a confrontation," he said.

On November 14, the court had convicted Singh and Sherawat for killing two men here during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots -- the first conviction in the cases reopened by the SIT.

The Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence. However, a Special Investigation Team on the riots reopened it.