Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday welcomed the Centre's decision to set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) for re-investigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases, saying he hopes that the final decision is result oriented.
"I am really thankful to the government for accepting our request. Our demand has finally been agreed by the Central Government," Badal told the media here.
"I just want the final decision to be result oriented," he added.
The Punjab Chief Minister had earlier this month sought the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in constituting a SIT to probe all cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The government has constituted a three-member SIT for re-investigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases, mainly in Delhi and other States.
The SIT will be headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch. The SIT will have Rakesh Kapoor, a retired district and sessions judge, and Kumar Gyanesh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police in Delhi Police, as its members.
The newly-constituted SIT has been empowered to examine afresh evidence in cases which had even been closed.
The SIT will look into all serious criminal cases relating to the riots, examine evidence and even re-open cases and file charge sheets in the courts concerned. It has been given six months to complete its work, including filing of chargesheets in nearly three-decade old cases.
The SIT has been constituted following a recommendation of a committee, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (Retd.) G.P. Mathur, which was set up to look into the possibility of re-investigation of the 1984 riots.
