CBI will decide on challenging the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case after the quantum of sentence for guilty is pronounced by the court even though the public prosecutor claimed to have decided to recommend moving the Delhi High Court against the order.
CBI sources said the public prosecutor is free to express his opinion but a decision whether to appeal in High Court would be taken by the agency in consultation with the Director of Prosecution.
They said if CBI decides to appeal against the order, it would approach the Law Ministry seeking its approval for starting proceedings in the High Court to challenge the acquittal of the Congress leader from the rioting case.
The court has fixed May 6 for hearing the arguments on quantum of sentence in the case.
The sources said the agency has not taken any decision in the matter as the complete order of the court would be available after quantum of sentence is decided by the court.
Kumar was acquitted of all charges by a Delhi court in one of the three 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases, a verdict that evoked strong protests from the riot victims' families.
District and Sessions Judge J R Aryan let off Kumar in the 29-year-old case in which he was accused of murder and of instigating a riotous mob that killed five Sikhs in Delhi's cantonment area.
Five others -- Balwan Khokkar, an ex-councillor, Mahender Yadav, an ex-MLA, Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal -- were convicted for their involvement in the riots that had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Kumar, a former Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi who was refused a Congress ticket for 2009 Lok Sabha elections, still faces trial in another 1984 rioting case. In a third case, Delhi Police have filed a closure report, saying there was no evidence against Kumar to implicate him.
