New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till September 24 the hearing on petitions filed by former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and ex-party councillor Balwan Khokhar challenging their convictions in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi deferred the matter as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, was unavailable.
In July 2024, the apex court had directed the CBI to respond to Khokhar’s plea seeking relief. The Delhi High Court in 2018 had upheld Khokhar’s life sentence and overturned Kumar’s 2013 trial court acquittal in connection with the killings of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I, Palam Colony, and the torching of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II on November 1-2, 1984.
Khokhar, in his plea, said prison authorities had denied him furlough on September 26, 2024, citing potential law-and-order issues. He noted that although he had already served 8.7 years in jail, his bail plea was rejected on February 3, 2023.
The 1984 riots, triggered by the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, led to large-scale violence and killings in the national capital. Four decades later, several cases linked to the carnage continue to witness significant legal developments.
