Another panel for another probe into ’84 riots

The two-member committee, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retired) G P Mathur and joint secretary (judicial) J P Agrawal, will also oversee the implementation of the payment Rs 5 lakh compensation to the riots victims.

BJP had earlier demanded reinvestigation into all cases related to the 1984 riots which had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of only four of the 241 cases closed by police.

“The committee will look into various grievances related to the anti-Sikh riots. It was set up after the Home Ministry received a large number of complaints from various individuals and associations,” a statement by MHA said.

Senior advocate H S Phoolka, who has been fighting on behalf of riot victims, said, “Constitution of a committee to look into the need to form an SIT amounts to delaying tactics. SIT was constituted in February 2014 by the then AAP government. Now, the Modi government has stalled that SIT and constituted another committee to decide if an SIT is needed. Thirty years have passed and this will further delay justice.”