The Delhi High Court on Monday said a trial court order of 2013 finding Congress leader Sajjan Kumar innocent in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case "suffers from manifest illegality" as it "selectively" found the witnesses reliable in respect of other accused, not him.
A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said it was "strange" that having accepted the witness testimonies regarding the involvement of the other accused, the trial Court performed "a complete U-turn" when it came to believing their statements as far as the involvement of Kumar was concerned.
The high court also said that the trial court appeared to have "overlooked" the larger dimensions of the crimes as it failed to properly address the charge of conspiracy, despite the fact that detailed arguments were submitted by the CBI in that regard.
"There is also a failure to return findings on the offences punishable under sections 436 (mischief by fire qua a place of worship), 153A (promoting enmity) and 295 (defiling a place of worship) of Indian Penal Code," the bench noted in its judgement convicting and sentencing Kumar to imprisonment for the rest of his life.
"Indeed, the above heads of charges stand proved against the accused comprehensively from the evidence that has come on record. In other words, the larger dimensions of the crimes appear to have been overlooked," it said.
The bench also noted that even the evidence led by the prosecution proved "beyond reasonable doubt" that Kumar was the "leader of the mob" and "actively abetted" the commission of crimes "by his repeated exhortations to the mob to indulge in the mayhem and kill innocent Sikhs".
The court said that the evidence also proved that he had delivered fiery and provocative speeches to the mob gathered at Raj Nagar on November 1-2, 1984, "instigating and promoting enmity against the Sikh community which was prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony and disturbed public tranquillity".
The bench further said that in the present case the trial court was "clearly in error" in "selectively" finding witnesses reliable with regard to the other accused but unreliable only on the involvement of Kumar.
"Disbelieving key witnesses who have remained consistent and spoken clearly about his role is not acceptable. Thus, this court is satisfied that the trial court has appreciated the evidence in this regard on erroneous considerations and thus, its finding of innocence qua A-1 (Kumar) suffers from manifest illegality," it said.
"For all of the aforementioned reasons, the court finds that the trial court was not justified in acquitting A-1 (Kumar) for the offences with which he was charged.
"With the offence of criminal conspiracy against him more than adequately proved, this court has no hesitation in holding him guilty for the offence punishable under section 120B (conspiracy) read with sections 302 (murder), 436, 153A (1) (a) and (b), and 295 IPC," the court said, reversing Kumar's acquittal in the case by the trial court.
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