1984 anti-Sikh riots: Supreme Court says prosecution must be done seriously, not for sake of it

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday quizzed Delhi Police for not filing appeals against acquittals in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases and said prosecution should be carried out "seriously and not just for the sake of it".

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan told additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, representing Delhi Police, that special leave petitions against the acquittals must be filed and fought with sincerity.

"In number of cases you have not challenged the order passed by the Delhi High Court. Frankly speaking, filing SLPs doesn't serve purpose unless it is filed and prosecuted seriously. You tell us, in matters which were filed earlier, were any senior lawyers engaged to argue the matter? It has to be done seriously not just for the sake of it. It must be done earnestly and sincerely. We are not saying that the outcome must be in a particular manner," it said.

Senior advocate HS Phoolka, representing petitioner S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, submitted the appeals filed by the police were just a formality.

"There was a judgement by the Delhi High Court that there was cover up and the state did not prosecute properly,"Phoolka said and sought permission to place the judgements on record.

During the hearing, the ASG said letters were written to file appeals in six cases of acquittal.

The bench has posted the hearing on February 17.

It was hearing a PIL filed by former Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee member Kahlon, on whose plea the top court in 2018 constituted an SIT led by justice Dhingra to probe 199 cases where investigations stood closed.

Delhi witnessed large-scale violence and killings of persons from the Sikh community following former PM Indira Gandhi's assassination by her bodyguards in 1984 and the cases stemming from the incident have seen some major twists and turns 40 years on.

According to a report of the one-man Nanavati Commission, formed to probe the violence, there were 587 FIRs registered in Delhi in relation to the 1984 riots that witnessed 2,733 people being killed. Of the total, the police shut about 240 cases as "untraced" and about 250 cases resulted in acquittals.

However, it was only in May 2023 that the central probe agency the CBI filed a chargesheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his alleged role in the killings of three people on November 1, 1984.

The CBI alleged Tytler "incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurdwara Azad Market area in the national capital on November 1, 1984. The incident resulted in the burning down of the gurdwara and killing of Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Guru Charan Singh.