New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) Congress leader Sajjan Kumar Wednesday told a Delhi court, hearing a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against him, that of the 17 witnesses only three alleged that he incited mobs.
Advancing the final arguments before District Judge J.R. Aryan, Sajjan Kumar’s counsel I.U. Khan said that most witnesses denied the presence of his client at the place of the riots.
“Out of 17, only three witnesses took Sajjan Kumar’s name and said they had seen him in the area during the riots or heard him giving the alleged speech,” the defence counsel said.
The court was hearing the case against the Congress leader and five others accused of inciting mobs against the Sikh community during the 1984 riots.
They were booked under sections 302 (murder), 395 (dacoity), 427 (mischief to cause damage to property), 153-A (promoting enmity between different communities) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
The case against Sajjan Kumar was lodged on the recommendations of the Nanavati Commission, which inquired into the riots.
In January 2010, the CBI filed two charge sheets against him and others.
The Congress leader is accused of instigating a mob to attack and kill Sikhs after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.
