1984 riots case: Sajjan Kumar’s appeal listed for hearing in SC after Diwali

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would hear former Congress leader Sajjan Kumars plea against conviction and lifeterm imprisonment in a 1984 antiSikh riots case post Diwali breakThe apex courts break begins October 20 following which it will resume work on October 27Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi while hearing the matter asked the counsel for the parties to specify about the allegations testimony of witnesses and findings by the trial court and the high court in the caseWhen the reversal was made what persuaded the high court to make a reversal the bench saidThe high court had set aside the trial courts 2010 verdict which acquitted Kumar in the caseWhile senior advocate R S Cheema appeared for the CBI senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan represented Kumar in the top courtBesides Kumars appeal the pleas of coconvicts Balwan Khokhar and Girdhari Lal were also listed for hearing in the apex courtThe case relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Delhi Cantonments Raj Nagar PartI area of southwest Delhi on November 12 1984 and burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar PartIIAntiSikh riots broke out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguardsKumar surrendered before a trial court in the capital on December 31 2018 to serve the sentence in pursuance of the high courts December 17 2018 judgment awarding him life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural lifeAfter his conviction in the case Kumar resigned from the Congress partyThe high court convicted and sentenced Kumar to spend the remainder of his life in jail for the offences of criminal conspiracy and abetment in commission of crimes of murder promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of communal harmony and defiling and destruction of a GurdwaraIt also upheld the conviction and varying sentences awarded by a trial court to five others including Khokhar and LalThe high courts verdict noted that over 2700 Sikhs were killed in the national capital during the 1984 riots which was indeed a carnage of unbelievable proportionsIt said the riots were a crime against humanity perpetrated by those who enjoyed political patronage and aided by an indifferent law enforcement agencyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever