’84 riots: Delhi police conducted sham probe to shield Sajjan,says CBI

The CBI pleaded that the stay “seriously prejudiced” the prosecution against the Congress leader.

A Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan — while taking on record the affidavit – posted to September 7 the final hearing of the agency\’s plea to prosecute Kumar for the Delhi Cantonment riots.

“Mr Dave,nobody is insensitive,” the Bench said when senior counsel Dushayant Dave,appearing for one of the victims,asked the court to vacate the stay on grounds that it involved the emotions of thousands of people.

The CBI,in its affidavit,said,”It will also be adjudged during trial as to whether the petitioner (Kumar) has played a role in causing delay.” The investigating agency also said 24 complaints were investigated in one FIR about scores of deaths. It said “because of sham investigations and farce prosecutions”,justice had not been delivered to the victims.

The agency questioned the intention of the anti-riot cell of the Delhi police in filing status reports on July 31,2008 in the trial court when the investigation was already being conducted by the CBI.

“There was no occasion for the Delhi Police to deal with the case once the entire material was supplied to the CBI by the government of India from the custody of Delhi Police (on October 10,2005),” the agency said.

The CBI also accused the Delhi police of filing another status report in the trial court on July 31,2008 and pointed out that the trial judge and the Delhi High Court have happily termed it as “clandestine attempt to hush up the matter”.

The CBI accused Kumar of attempting to drag the trial on one pretext or the other and said his plea for staying the trial was another such attempt.

“The present petition has been filed with the only object of delaying the trial,” the CBI said.

In other words,the agency argued that whether the fresh charges framed against Kumar by the trial judge on May 15,2010 was justified or not has to be examined at the stage of the trial.

The affidavit also said the chargesheet would show there were direct allegations,proved by evidence,of Kumar\’s involvement in the anti-Sikh riots.

Citing the apex court\’s earlier judgments,the CBI said that at the stage of framing charges,no weight is to be attached to the probable defence of the accused as such matters has to be dealt with at the trial.

The apex court had on August 13 stayed for two weeks trial proceedings against Kumar who is facing charges of murder and other crimes in the riots.

It had issued a notice to CBI on Kumar\’s appeal challenging his prosecution.

In a special leave petition,Kumar had contended that the complainants\’ testimony against him were unreliable. He had said the complainant,Jagdish Kaur,had filed a sworn affidavit before the Ranganath Mishra Commission on September 7,1995,in which she had named several Congress leaders but not Kumar.

But in May 2000,she filed an affidavit before the G T Nanavati Commission naming Kumar as the man who led the mob which killed her husband and son.

Thereafter in her personal deposition before the Commission,however,she did not mention Kumar\’s name,the appeal had stated.

The counsel submitted that in 2006,the complainant had again deposed before CBI saying she had heard Kumar inciting the mob. Hence,he pleaded her testimony could not be relied upon.

Similarly,the counsel submitted that two other witnesses had surfaced after nearly 24 years to depose against Kumar.

The High Court had on July 19 refused to quash various charges,including that of murder,against Kumar,saying the delay in prosecution has apparently benefited him.

Kumar,a former Outer Delhi MP,is facing prosecution in two cases in which he has been accused of inciting a mob against the Sikh community in the aftermath of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi\’s assassination on October 31,1984.

“The interest of justice requires that the offences allegedly committed by the accused persons are expeditiously tried to preserve the rule of law in society,” the High Court had said while directing the trial court to hold the proceedings against him expeditiously in the riots cases.

The trial court had in May this year framed charges under Sections 302 (murder),395 (dacoity),427 (mischief to cause damage to property),153A (promoting enmity between different communities) and other provisions of the IPC,paving the way for Kumar\’s trial. Five others are also on trial for the same offences.

The CBI had accused Kumar of provoking people against members of the Sikh community during the carnage that led to the killing of five persons in the Delhi Cantonment area.

Besides Kumar,the other accused in the case are Balwan Khokhar,Krishan Khokhar,Mahender Yadav,Captain Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal.

CBI had filed two chargesheets against Kumar and others on January 13 in the riots cases registered in 2005 on the recommendation of Justice G T Nanavati Commission which inquired into the sequence of events leading to the riots.

The trial court had on July 7 framed charges against the politician in another case in connection with the anti-Sikh riots.