Centre files status report in apex court

New Delhi, February 20

The Centre today filed a status report in the Supreme Court on the investigation conducted by a special investigation team (SIT) into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

The report was taken on record by a Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra. The Bench, also including Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice MM Shantanagoudar, has fixed the matter for hearing on March 6.

The report was filed in pursuance of the January 16 direction of the apex court, which had asked the Centre to file a “comprehensive report” on the status of the probe conducted by the SIT on a plea seeking a court-supervised investigation.

The court had also asked the Centre to apprise it of the steps taken in the matter within four weeks after the government had said that the SIT’s work was “in progress”.

Petitioner Gurlad Singh Kahlon had argued that the extension of the tenure to the SIT was given earlier and its term was going to expire on February 17.

The Centre, in its counter affidavit filed earlier, had said that there had been “considerable progress” in the SIT probe and 218 cases were at various staged of scrutiny and a “decision has been taken for re-investigation in respect of 22 cases”.

Kahlon, a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, had sought the apex court’s direction for setting up of the SIT to ensure speedy justice to riot victims.

The SIT is headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of the 1986 batch, and has Rakesh Kapoor, a retired District and Sessions Judge, and Kumar Gyanesh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Delhi Police, as its members — PTI