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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Monday indicted the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case accused,including Congress leader Sajjan Kumar,for trying to stall the trial at every stage and said the cases must get concluded now.
We are not inclined to stay the proceedings. You (accused) are stalling it at every stage. Please do not stall the proceedings. For how long will this go on? It is relating to incidents in 1984, a bench of Justices A K Patnaik and J S Khehar observed.
As the counsel for Sajjan Kumar and another accused Brahmanand Gupta stressed that trial must take place as per the procedure established by the law,the bench retorted: You are stalling it every time. That is not the procedure established by the law.
The court refrained from passing any interim order on the appeals by the accused against invoking certain penal charges against them and posted the matter for further hearing on Friday.
The accused had moved the apex court against the decisions of the lower courts to try them under various charges relating to rioting,arson,dacoity,etc,during the 1984 riots that broke out following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Their lawyers argued that they had already been tried and acquitted of these charges in earlier rounds of criminal prosecutions pertaining to the riots. It has been contended that even if a new case for another killing was to be made,they cannot be tried again for those offences for which they faced the trial and got acquitted.
The apex court has said it will examine the merits of their submissions on the next date and asked them to adduce charts detailing all the cases,charges framed and the verdicts in them.
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