New Delhi [India], February 10 (ANI): The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday 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.
A bench of justices, Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, was informed by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who represented the Delhi Police, that the state has asked prosecuting agencies to file Special Leave Petitions (SLPs).
She further stated that two SLPs had already been filed, and six more were set to be filed in connection with six other cases.
The filing of SLPs won’t serve any purpose unless they are filed and prosecuted seriously, Justice Oka remarked.
Further, the apex court criticised prosecution agencies for having failed to pursue the cases (in appeals) in a serious manner.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed appeals against acquittals in several riot cases on the ground of delay.
In the last hearing, the court had expressed concern over the failure of investigating agencies to file appeals in cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, despite explicit recommendations from the Justice Dhingra committee.
The Court had also directed the Centre to clarify why all orders of acquittal and dismissal were not appealed in the appellate courts.
During today’s hearing, the counsel representing the petitioners submitted that there is a Delhi High Court judgement delivered by former Justice Muralidhar which had highlighted a “great cover-up” in the 1984 riots cases. The petitioners submitted that this judgement was not presented in the appeals before the Delhi High Court.
The Court, considering the aforesaid submission, directed the petitioners to provide the judgement for the Bench to review.
After considering further submissions in the matter, the court stated that it would hear the matter in detail.
It listed the cases to be heard next on February 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.
The petitioner was represented through Senior Advocate HS Phoolka, Advocates Amarjeet Singh Bedi, Gaganmeet Singh Sachdeva and Varun Chugh. (ANI)
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