Following are the chain of events after which a Delhi court today acquitted two men accused of hijacking a New Delhi-Srinagar Indian Airlines flight and forcing it to land in Pakistan in 1981:
Indian Airlines flight IC-423 (Boeing 737), carrying 111 passengers with 6 crew members, took off from Palam Airport to Srinagar and was hijacked in air. The accused, armed with 'kripans', forced the plane to land at Lahore, Pakistan.
*Sept 29, 1981: Five activists of the radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa hijacked a New Delhi-Srinagar Indian Airlines flight to Lahore.
*Sept 30: Case transferred to crime branch.
*July 10, 1982: One accused Harsimran Jeet Singh arrested and charge-sheeted.
*May 30, 1983: Harsimran Jeet Singh acquitted by an Indian court.
Also Read
*Jan 20, 1986: Pakistan court sentences accused to life imprisonment.
*1994: Convicts were released from Pakistan jail.
*Dec 9, 1999: Satnam Singh appears before a Delhi court seeking discharge as he had served life term in Pakistan.
*Feb 11, 2000: Satnam Singh discharged by a Delhi court saying he would be hit by double jeopardy as he had already been convicted for the incident in Pakistan.
*July 19: Co-accused Tajender Pal Singh moves court seeking discharge on the ground of parity.
*Aug 2, 2006: Court was informed that the original file of the case was destroyed in 2002.
*Oct 1, 2011: Supplementary charge sheet filed.
*Aug 30, 2012: Court takes cognisance of the charge sheet and issued non-bailable warrants against the accused.
*July 20, 2017: Delhi court grants bail to two persons accused of hijacking an Air India plane.
*Aug 27, 2018: Two accused, Tajinder Pal Singh and Satnam Singh, acquitted by a Delhi court.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
