Delhi HC orders retrial in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, cites ‘miscarriage of justice’

The Delhi High Court has set aside a 1986 acquittal and ordered a retrial in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case involving the killing of a man in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar area, saying the errors in the earlier verdict had resulted in a “miscarriage of justice”.

A Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar passed the order on Monday after taking suo motu cognisance to examine the correctness of the earlier verdict. The court said it found prima facie fault in the investigation and observed that the proceedings before the trial court had been conducted in a “hasty manner”.

“These errors have resulted in a miscarriage of justice, which is evident from the fact that a grave offence of murder and arson with communal overtones has neither been investigated properly by the investigating agency nor tried in the right stead by the Additional Sessions Judge. Resultantly, the victims, including the wife and children of deceased Harbhajan Singh, have been deprived of their valuable fundamental right under Article 21 to a fair investigation and trial which, if not rectified, may result in a loss of hope in our legal system and compromise the interests of society,” the Bench said.

According to the prosecution, the victim’s wife had alleged that certain persons set her husband and house on fire, leading to his death. However, the trial court acquitted the four accused in May 1986 of arson and murder charges, citing contradictions between her statements to the police and in the court, and also pointing to delay in filing the complaint.

The high court said the CBI failed to make adequate efforts to collect evidence.

“We are cognisant of the fact that over 40 years have passed since the occurrence took place. However, that by itself ought not to deter us from making the present direction for further investigation, since the alternative would entail turning a Nelson’s eye to the needs of society at large and the rights of victims, including the complainant and her children, to a comprehensive free and fair investigation. The CBI is expected to carry out such further investigation on a best-effort basis to gather whatever evidence is available today,” it said.

The court noted that investigators did not sufficiently attempt to associate all natural witnesses, including the children of the deceased, present during the incident, neighbours who sheltered the family after their house was set ablaze, and others who might have been nearby.

“Similarly, no effort was made to trace the corpse of the deceased, as also articles stolen from the house of the complainant,” the Bench said.

It recorded the submissions of the amicus curiae, senior advocate Vivek Sood, who stated that a “bloodbath took place after the assassination of the late Indira Gandhi” and that many widows, children and local residents fled to safety and took shelter elsewhere, making them less readily available for investigation.

The Bench said the matter “undoubtedly falls within the category of an exceptional case”, warranting the setting aside of the 1986 acquittal.