1984 riots: Delhi cops to appeal against acquittal in six cases

A week after being questioned over non-filing of appeals challenging acquittal in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases in the national capital, the Delhi Police on Monday told the Supreme Court that it would file appeals in six such cases against acquittals.

During hearing on a PIL filed in 2016 by former Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) member S Gurlad Singh Kahlon on the implementation of Justice SN Dhingra committee’s recommendations on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati told a Bench, led by Justice AS Oka, that a decision had been taken to challenge before the top court acquittals.

“We direct the state of Delhi to ensure that SLPs (Special Leave Petitions) in the aforesaid cases are filed in the maximum period of six weeks from today,” ordered the Bench — which had on the last date of hearing said that prosecution should be carried out “seriously and not just for the sake of it”.

Following the ASG’s submission, the Bench said, “The SLPs against acquittals shall be placed before the Chief Justice of India for administrative directions for tagging them with Kahlon’s petition.”

Almost 3,000 people were killed, most of them in Delhi, in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

SIT investigation

Acting on Kahlon’s PIL, the top court had, in 2018, constituted an SIT to probe 199 cases, where investigations were closed. Noting that the probe was derailed in several cases, Justice Dhingra committee, in its January 2020 report, recommended the filing of appeals against acquittals.

After the report, the Delhi Police moved the Delhi High Court against acquittals in eight cases, but its appeals were dismissed on account of inordinate delay. In two of the cases SLPs were filed in the Supreme Court. Bhati told the Bench on Monday that the Delhi Police would be filling SLPs in the remaining six cases as well.

On behalf of the riot victims, senior counsel HS Phoola cited the 2018 verdict of the Delhi High Court to highlight alleged lapses on the part of the police right from the trial stage. “These are the judgments from the high court which shows how the investigation and the prosecution are hand in glove with the accused, My Lords.”

“These are not normal cases. There was a cover up and the state did not prosecute properly. These cases are crimes against humanity…First of all, the trials were sham trials, investigations were sham…and how the prosecutors themselves spoiled the cases to shield the accused. My Lords, this is the high court’s finding,” Phoolka told the Bench.

Phoolka demanded a fresh probe into the complaint filed by Surjeet Kaur with regard to the murder of six persons in Nand Nagri during the 1984 riots. He also demanded a fresh investigation and retrial regarding 51 murders mentioned in the SIT’s report and departmental disciplinary proceedings against SHO Shurvir Singh Tyagi indicted by the SIT. He has also sought a direction to the Delhi Police to expedite the decisions in four revision petitions pending in the Delhi High Court.