1984 Riots Case: Non-Bailable Warrant Against Sajjan Kumar

[mohinder pal]

New Delhi: Giving no relief, a Delhi Court today issued non-bailable warrant against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases opening the possibility of his arrest by CBI ahead of anticipatory bail plea to be heard tomorrow in the High Court.

Taking exception to his non-appearance before the court after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him relief, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma said that he was "duty-bound" to appear before him.

google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);"The accused was called to appear before the court but he choses to challenge before superior court and rightly do but he could not get any relief. He was duty-bound to honour the court's order," the ACMM said.

"Position as it is that there is neither any state nor the accused has been able to keep any interim protection from the superior court. Mere pendency of the bail application in the absence of any specific order from the superior court could not ipso-facto constitute a valid ground for granting exemption," the court said.

CBI's special prosecutor and senior advocate R S Cheema opposed the application of Kumar's counsel for his client's exemption from personal appearance in the court.

He submitted that allowing such a plea would be tantamount to granting relief to the accused, which, for the time being, has not been allowed by the High Court.

Scores of Sikhs staged a demonstration outside the Karkardooma court in the afternoon and demanded capital punishment against Kumar.

Earlier in the day, the High Court deferred till tomorrow hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of Kumar, 64, in the case.

Kumar, a former MP from outer Delhi, has approached the High Court against trial court's order, which had on February 15 refused to grant him anticipatory bail.

In view of his plea in the High Court, the trial court deferred hearing on the issue twice today.

CBI had chargesheeted 13 people, including Kumar, on January 13 in two separate 1984 riots cases for allegedly making provocative speeches, leading to the killing of 12 persons in the violence that broke out following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The probe agency had filed the chargesheets in the court after concluding its investigation into the cases registered on the recommendation of Nanavati Commission in 2005.