By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Tuesday admitted an appeal filed by the CBI against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
A division bench of Justice G.S. Sistani and Justice G.P. Mittal would next hear the case Oct 30.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that the trial court “erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the riots”.
The family members of some victims, who had filed a separate appeal challenging Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal, withdrew their plea as the court suggested that the grounds raised by them would be taken as additional grounds in the probe agency’s appeal.
The trial court May 30 acquitted Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the killing of five people in Delhi Cantonment area during violence against the Sikhs following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.
The trial court acquitted Sajjan Kumar, a former Lok Sabha member from Outer Delhi, but convicted five others – former councillor Balwan Khokkar, former legislator Mahender Yadav, Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal – for their involvement in the case.
The court had let off Sajjan Kumar saying he deserved the “benefit of doubt” as key witness Jagdish Kaur did not name him as an accused in her statement given to a panel.
The case against Sajjan Kumar and the others was registered in 2005.