NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday emphasised the use of technology for gathering evidence in criminal cases, while upholding the conviction of 70 of the 89 persons who were each awarded a five-year jail term by a trial court for rioting and burning houses during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Justice R K Gauba, in his 79-page ruling, said, “The manner of prosecution of the case at hand would undoubtedly go down in the judicial history of this country as an example of criminal law process that must never be emulated. From this perspective, and in the expectation that those at the helm draw lessons from here, one hopes that this case is never forgotten.”
The court suggested and expressed hope that the legislature would consider enacting a special law to deal with such crimes effectively and quickly, and also suggested reforms, such as amending the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, and the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, to entrust such bodies with the responsibility of taking note of cognisable offences committed in communal riots, investigating through special investigating teams under their control, and overseeing prosecution through special public prosecutor(s) engaged by them.
“The law on the subject of communal riots cannot be a complete answer to the challenge unless it also establishes special courts with suitable amendments to the general criminal law procedure as indeed the rules of evidence,” the high court suggested.It also said that since the media was the fourth pillar of democracy, press reports supported by photographic material and video footage may be utilised as evidence in trials of criminal cases arising from communal riots.
“It is indeed a matter of lament that there has been no meaningful thought spared till date to usher in reforms in the judicial process to effectively deal with cases of communal riots which are engineered, more often than not, by those who have clout or influence- of various kind,” the order reads.