Delhi HC directs jail authorities to take 1984 riots convict to ILBS Hospital for medical check up

The Delhi High Court has directed the jail authorities to take one of the convicts in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case to ILBS Hospital within three days for medical check up as he has to undergo liver and kidney transplant.

A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula, who conducted the hearing through video conferencing, also directed the Delhi government and SIT to file their status reports by May 25 on convict Naresh Sehrawat's plea seeking suspension of his sentence for three months on medical grounds.

The court was hearing a plea by Sehrawat, who is serving life imprisonment in the riots case, seeking interim suspension of sentence for three months on the ground that he needs to undergo liver and kidney transplant simultaneously and at the earliest.

The plea said though his appointment with the doctor at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) Hospital here was fixed for March 11, he was not taken there by the jail authorities as his transportation was considered highly risky due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court issued notice on the application to Delhi government, represented through advocate Kamra Vohra, and Special Investigation Team (SIT), represented through advocate Tarannum Cheema.

“The Jail authority is directed to ensure that the appellant (Sehrawat) is taken to ILBS Hospital within next three days for medical check up and treatment. The respondents (authorities) are directed to file their status reports on or before May 25,” the court said and listed the matter for further hearing on May 26.

An SIT was earlier set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs to reinvestigate the riot cases.

The trial court had awarded death penalty to convict Yashpal Singh and life term to Naresh Sehrawat in the case relating to the killing of two men in New Delhi during the 1984 riots -- the first convictions in the cases reopened by the SIT.

Sherawat has also appealed against his conviction and the sentence before the high court which is pending.

The death reference as well as appeal of Singh against the capital punishment awarded to him is also pending in the high court.