1984 anti-Sikh riots case: SC tags petitions seeking probe

The Supreme Court today said that a plea seeking a CBI probe into a 1984 anti-Sikh riots incident in Kanpur in which 127 persons had died, will be heard along with a petition in which an SIT inquiry has been ordered.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar tagged the plea with another similar petition related to the 1984 riots which will come up for hearing on April 24.
"Since an SIT inquiry is already going on, we are tagging this petition with the earlier one," it said.
The plea filed by Manjit Singh GK, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said that even after 33 years, no constructive action has been taken by the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to provide justice and rehabilitate and compensate the victims of the 1984 riots in Kanpur.

The petition has claimed that the Centre and the U P government have not taken any action to punish the accused persons despite having "clear and cogent data".
"Looking at the gravity of the situation and apathetic attitude of the respondent (governments), it is expedient and in the interest of justice that likewise Delhi, in the inquiry and investigation with regard to deaths, disabilities, destruction of property and compensation, the investigation may be referred to either the CBI or the SIT, so that the truth could be unearthed and victims could be compensated.

"It is pertinent to mention here that the state police machinery is not in a position to do a fair, just and reasonable attempt to apprehend the accused and compensate the victims as per law," the plea said.

It said that around 127 persons, belonging to the Sikh community, were "brutally murdered/burnt to death" in Kanpur's different police station areas.
The apex court is already hearing another similar petition by S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, seeking direction for setting up an SIT to ensure speedy justice to riots victims.
The court had earlier asked the Union government to place before it files pertaining to 199 cases of the riots which the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the Home Ministry has decided to "close".
The bench had said that it intended to "focus" on these 199 cases and directed the government to place the files before it.

Kahlon's counsel had told the bench that a total of 293 riots-related cases were taken up for scrutiny by the three-member SIT and it has decided to close 199 of them after scrutiny.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had said a high-powered SIT was already looking into these cases and its tenure would last till August 11 this year.
The SIT is headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch, and has Rakesh Kapoor, a retired district and sessions judge, besides police officer Kumar Gyanesh as its members.
Anti-Sikh riots that broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone.