The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the plea of a convict, who was awarded life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, seeking interim suspension of his sentence on medical grounds.
A division bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul took note of the medical report provided by the jail authorities regarding the health condition of convict Naresh Sehrawat and refused to grant him the relief.
It noted that as per the medical report, the condition of the convict was stable and he was being treated by authorities in jail hospital.
The convict had claimed that his liver was 90 per cent damaged and sought interim suspension of the sentence.
The court had earlier asked the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the state, represented through advocate Kamna Vohra, to respond to the plea. The SIT was also asked to verify the documents given by Sehrawat in support of his medical condition.
A trial court had awarded life term to Sherawat in a case related to the killing of two men in New Delhi during the 1984 riots -- the first convictions in the cases reopened by the SIT.
More From This Section
It had also awarded capital punishment to co-convict Yashpal Singh in the case.
The appeals of both the convicts, against their conviction and sentence by the trial court as well as the death reference of Yashpal, are pending in the high court.
The court had earlier issued notice to Yashpal on the reference to confirm his death sentence.
The Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence, but it was reopened by the SIT.
The SIT is investigating nearly 60 cases related to the riots, while it has filed "untraced report" in 52 cases.
While this was the first death penalty after the SIT was formed, one Kishori was earlier given the death penalty by a trial court in as many as seven anti-Sikh riots cases.
However, the Delhi High Court confirmed death penalty only in three cases, which were later commuted to life term by the apex court.
As per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the death penalty cannot be executed unless confirmed by the high court.
The court had spared convict Sherawat the gallows on medical grounds.
It had convicted Yashpal and Sherawat for killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh in Mahipalpur area of South Delhi on November 1, 1984 during the riots that had taken place after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at her residence by two Sikh bodyguards a day before.
The case was lodged on a complaint by victim Hardev's brother Santokh Singh.
The trial court had held both the accused guilty for the offences of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means under the IPC.
A mob of about 500 persons, led by the two convicts, had encircled the house of the victims and had killed them. It was just one of the incidents in Delhi alone witnessed during the riots that saw around 3,000 people being killed.
Of the 650 cases registered in connection with the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, 267 were closed as untraced by the Delhi Police. Of these 267 cases, five were later taken up by the CBI. The SIT also scrutinised records of 18 cancelled cases.