1984 riots: Will file appeals challenging acquittals in 6 cases, Delhi govt tells SC

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it will file six appeals challenging acquittals in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by former Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee member S Gurlad Singh Kahlon. In 2018, the apex court on his plea constituted an SIT to probe 199 cases where investigations stood closed.

On Monday, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Delhi government, told a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan that a decision has been taken to challenge acquittals in the top court.

Taking note of the submission, the bench directed the Delhi government to file the appeals in six weeks and said the special leave petitions be placed before Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna for tagging with the present case.

During the hearing, senior advocate H S Phoolka, representing petitioner Kahlon, submitted judgments showing that prosecution was "hand in glove" with the accused in the case.

"These are not normal cases. There was cover up and the state did not prosecute properly. These cases are crimes against humanity," he said.

The court had earlier 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".

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, 587 FIRs were registered in Delhi in relation to the 1984 riots in which 2,733 people were killed. Of the total, the police shut about 240 cases as "untraced" and about 250 cases resulted in acquittals.