New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) A city court Friday ordered that charges be framed against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and five others for murder in a case in which a mob allegedly killed five people during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta ordered framing of charges against Kumar, Balwan Khokhar, Krishan Khokhar, Mahender Yadav, Captain Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal for murder and under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The charges framed against Kumar are murder, dacoity, abetment, conspiracy, promoting enmity between two different communities, mischief by fire or explosives and house trespass.
Charges were framed against the five other accused under the same provisions as Kumar, except for abetment.
‘The five accused are excluded from abetment, rest of the charges will be the same,’ said Gupta.
Kumar and the five others were present in the court when the judge pronounced the order.
After the court announced the framing of charges against Kumar, Nirprit Kaur, witness and daughter of riot victim Nirmal Singh, said: ‘Now that the charges have been framed formally, I think the Congress should throw him out of the party.’
She added: ‘I do not expect that the case would get over in six months keeping in mind the 26 years which the government took to formally frame charges against Kumar.’
The six accused pleaded not guilty and said they will contest the charges against them.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Congress leader Nov 1, 1984 instigated a mob in Delhi Cantonment to kill Sikhs following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
The CBI has filed a chargesheet against Sajjan Kumar and the others in two cases for allegedly instigating mobs during the riots, in which more than 3,000 Sikhs were estimated to have been killed across Delhi.
