NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court’s judgement on Monday which found Congress leader Sajjan Kumar guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, has exposed how Delhi Police, which should act as a protector, turned predator during the riots that claimed more than 2,700 lives.
The 207-page judgement, penned by Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel, said, “Delhi Police, which is responsible to protect the citizens, were helping the rioters to target Sikhs and it was a free-for-all situation.”
Citing numerous instances which exposed the Delhi Police’s intentions, the court, in its ruling, stated how the police force worked as per the demands of its political masters instead of following the law of the land.
“The law and order machinery clearly broke down and it was literally a free-for-all situation which persisted. The aftershocks of those atrocities are still being felt.
There was an abject failure by the police to investigate the violence which broke out in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is apparent from the several circumstances highlighted herein above,” the high court said, quoting multiple lapses.
The court also said that the police failed to register separate FIRs with respect to the five deaths, which was the subject matter in the case. The police also didn’t record any incident in their daily diary.
However, the court did not restrict itself to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Using them as an example, it highlighted a familiar pattern of mass killings in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002, in Kandhamal, Odisha, in 2008, in Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013, to name a few.
The court said a law against genocide and crime against humanity in India’s domestic system remained a loophole that needed to be addressed expeditiously.
“There has been a familiar pattern of mass killings in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002, in Kandhamal, Odisha in 2008, in Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013 to name a few. Common to these mass crimes were the targeting of minorities and the attacks spearheaded by the dominant political actors being facilitated by the law enforcement agencies,” the judgement states.
Cases pending against Sajjan Kumar
Sultanpuri
It is alleged that Sajjan Kumar incited mob against Sikhs, telling them that Sikhs had killed our mother. - Pending at prosecution witness.
Janakpuri
The complaint pertains to the killing of two Sikhs on November 1, 1984 and a case of another Sikh being burnt on November 2, 1984 in the jurisdiction of Vikaspuri Police Station. - Pending at investigation stage.
Nangloi
Pending at investigation stage.
Case pending against Jagdish Tytler
The case pertains to the death of three Sikhs—Badal Singh, Thakur Singh, and Gurcharan Singh—at Gurdwara Pulbangash in North Delhi on November 1, 1984. - Pending.
442 people convicted
As per information received by the Rajya Sabha, so far 442 people have been convicted by various courts in Delhi in connection with the 1984 riots.
The death sentence has been handed down to only two people for the anti-Sikh riots.
587 first information reports were filed. Of them, the police closed 241 cases without investigation, claiming inability to trace evidence.