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The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Union and the Delhi government to file Statutory Leave Petitions (SLPs) in connection with six cases in which various accused persons of the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots had been granted acquittals.
The appeals against various acquittals in the anti-Sikh riots cases had earlier been dismissed by the Delhi High Court. In today's hearing, the court was told that out of a total of eight acquittal cases, SLPs have been filed in two, while six are yet to be filed. Further, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati informed the Court that the State has already asked the prosecution to file SLPs in those six remaining cases. After considering the States' submission, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the Union and Delhi governments to file SLPs in such cases within a time of six weeks. The top court also directed the Delhi High Court's registry to submit a status report on certain other anti-Sikh riot cases in which the High Court had earlier taken suo moto cognisance. The court has listed the matter to be heard next on March 17. The Court was hearing a 2016 plea filed by one Gurlad Singh Kahlon that had prompted the top court to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Justice SN Dhingra for the re-examination of 186 reopened cases in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that took the lives of many. Last week, the top court had said that appeals challenging the acquittals of accused persons in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases need to be filed seriously by prosecution agencies and not just for the sake of it. Further, it had also criticised prosecution agencies for having failed to pursue the cases (in appeals) in a serious manner. Today, after considering submissions of the petitioner, the court directed the State to file SLPs before it in connection with the concerned riot cases within six weeks. The petitioner was represented through Senior Advocate HS Phoolka, Advocates Amarjeet Singh Bedi, Gaganmeet Singh Sachdeva and Varun Chugh. (ANI)
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