1984 Anti-Sikh riots: Delhi HC upholds conviction of 88 people
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of 88 people in connection to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which broke after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her guards on October 31. The court slammed the fact that despite 95 bodies being discovered, the accused weren't charged with murder. Senior advocate HS Phulka termed it a 'landmark judgment'.
In 1996, 88 were convicted for rioting
A sessions court in 1996, had convicted 88 out of 107 accused of rioting, burning houses and curfew violation in East Delhi's Trilokpuri area. In the violence, nearly 100 houses were burnt. The convicted then moved the HC but their sentence remained unchanged, 22 years later. Out of the 88, only 47 are alive and the court asked them to surrender soon.
HC laments at how 1984 riots were handled
Indira Gandhi's death led to murders of innocent Sikhs
After Gandhi was murdered, riots broke out in the national capital. While official records claimed 2,800 Sikhs died in India (out of which 2100 were in Delhi), other reports painted a different picture. It is suggested that nearly 8,000 Sikhs lost their lives in the state-sponsored violence. 3,000 Sikhs were massacred in Delhi alone. Nearly, 20,000 Sikhs fled the capital in fear.
SIT was formed in 2015 to investigate closed cases
A report of CBI claimed Delhi police and other central agencies facilitated the violence. In 2015, the BJP-led Centre constituted an SIT to investigate the 220-plus closed cases with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh calling it 'genocide'. The decision, to form SIT, was taken after a panel headed by Justice (retired) GP Mathur said that despite the violence, numerous cases were closed.
Once RaGa admitted Congress was involved, then took U-turn
Among the 225 cases, there were few against Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. In the run up for 2014 elections, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had said some members of his party might have been involved in the violence. However, he took a U-turn in London in August this year, and said no Congressmen were involved in it, sparking a fresh controversy,
