Terming as "very unfortunate" the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Shiromani Akali Dal today said it will challenge the court order and demanded the setting up of a court- monitored Special Investigation Team to probe the riot cases.
"The acquittal of Sajjan Kumar is sad and very unfortunate. We will challenge it in a higher court," Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said.
Badal said while there was direct evidence against Kumar in the anti-Sikh riots case, he wondered how the Congress leader alone was left out while all other accused in the case have been convicted based on the evidence against them.
"Everyone in the country knows he (Kumar) was directly involved. There was direct evidence against him by witnesses who had come forward. The Sikh community is feeling very sad that justice has not been given," the chief minister said.
SAD president and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said, "This is the saddest day in the history of Sikhs and India. We will appeal in a higher court. We will continue to fight till we get justice."
"The way CBI was used to save the guilty in the coal scam, in Sajjan Kumar's case and also the whole CBI team was used by the Congress party to save him," Sukhbir said.
Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal said, "Congress has used all its political clout and power to save Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case because they knew that Kumar will reveal the names of all those at whose behest he had done so."
"If there can be a court-monitored SIT for the Godhra riots in Gujarat, why can't it be there for the anti-Sikh riots in which thousands of Sikhs were killed and no convictions taken place? We will demand a SIT monitored by the court," she said.
