Sukhbir urges apex court to club all ’84 riots cases, hold fast-track trial

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 21

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to club all cases relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots pending in various courts and conduct their day-to-day trial through a fast-track court for speedy justice to the victims.

He also demanded of the SIT that is investigating the cases to summon Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and subject them to lie detector tests to establish the alleged Congress conspiracy in the riots against the Sikhs.

“The conspiracy was hatched under the watch of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The riots were plotted at the residence of the Prime Minister,” Sukhbir alleged, adding that Sonia Gandhi was privy to the conspiracy.

Sukhbir alleged that the Gandhi family had been shielding and patronising the Congress leaders, including Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, accused of the riots.

He thanked the Narendra Modi government for acceding to the SAD demand in 2015 of constituting an SIT to reconsider the riots cases closed by the Congress governments “on the pretext of lack of evidence”.

“It is because of the fresh probe by the SIT that the first conviction in the riots-related cases has taken place,” he said.

One person has been sentenced to life term, and another to death by the court.