Court issues summons to Sajjan Kumar in anti-Sikh riots case

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma sought presence of the 62-year-old Congress leader and others before the court on February 17.

The magistrate said that after perusing the chargesheets including the statements of the witnesses, prima-facie case of murder, rioting and other offences were made out against the accused.

He, however, declined a plea of CBI and the victim's counsel to issue non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the accused in view of the gravity of the offences involved.
"In the facts and circumstances, all the accused persons are very much residing in the same locality. There is no complaint of criminal intimidation of any of the witnesses.

"The primary concern of CBI is to ensure the presence of the accused. I do not find any reason to adopt coercive methods to ensure presence of the accused. So the prayer(for NBW) of CBI and the victims is declined," the court said.

The CBI had on January 13 filed two chargesheets against the former Congress MP and others before the court in two separate cases of allegedly making provocative speeches, leading to the killing of 12 persons in 1984 riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

The probe agency had filed the chargesheets in the court after concluding its investigation into the cases registered on the recommendation of Nanavati Commission in 2005.

The cases, in which the chargesheets were filed against Kumar and several others, were registered in police stations in Sultanpuri and Delhi Cantonment following the killing of seven and five persons respectively in the riots.