SC to examine panel report 84riots cases closed by SIT

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India will examine on December 11 a confidential report submitted by a supervisory committee of two retired apex court judges tasked with vetting the investigation into 241 anti-Sikh riots cases closed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand and others to assist the court on December 11 when it peruses the report submitted in a locked leather case.

The apex court had appointed two of its former judges, Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.M. Panchal, on the supervisory committee.

On August 16, a Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra, as he was then, had decided to independently examine the investigation records of the 241 cases and confirm that there was nothing more to do on them. A total of 3,325 people were killed in the 1984 riots in which Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths, while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other States. The SIT was set up on February 12, 2015, following a recommendation by the Home Ministry-appointed Justice (retd.) G.P. Mathur committee. The SIT is headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch. It has Rakesh Kapoor, a retired district and sessions judge, and Kumar Gyanesh, an additional deputy commissioner of Delhi Police, as its members. The SIT had questioned Congress leader Sajjan Kumar thrice and asked him questions about the allegations that he instigated a mob in Janakpuri on November 1, 1984, which led to the killing of two Sikhs — Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh.

On August 16, the apex court had appointed the supervisory panel to examine the SIT’s decision to close 241 cases in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots matter and asked it to submit report in three months.

The Centre had earlier told that out of the 250 cases which were investigated by the SIT, closure reports were filed in 241. It had said that nine cases were still being investigated by the SIT, while two cases are being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.