'Big fish' still roaming free: Kejriwal after HC upheld conviction of 80 people in 1984 riots

The Delhi High Court upheld the conviction of around 80 people and awarded them five year jail term for rioting, burning houses and violation of curfew during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"I welcome Delhi High Court judgment upholding the conviction of 88 culprits responsible for the murder of hundreds of innocent people in Trilokpuri during 1984 riots. Justice has so far not been done to riot victims even after 34 years. Big fish are still roaming free," he said in a tweet.

After the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, the next couple of days witnessed widespread rioting and killings of Sikhs in the national capital.

According to the FIR lodged in connection with the Trilokpuri incident, 95 people had died in the rioting and 100 houses were burnt, said senior advocate H S Phoolka, who has been representing the riot victims in various matters.

The convicts had challenged the August 27, 1996 judgement of a Sessions Court which had convicted 88 out of the 107 people arrested on November 2, 1984 for rioting, burning houses and curfew violation in Trilokpuri area of East Delhi.

Justice R K Gauba dismissed their 22-year old appeals against the conviction and asked all the convicts to surrender forthwith to undergo the prison term.

Of the 88 convicts who moved the high court, several have died during the pendency of their appeals and the case against them has abated, police had earlier said.

On November 20, a Delhi court had awarded death penalty to convict Yashpal Singh for killing two men in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the first capital punishment in the case.The court had also awarded life term to co-convict Naresh Sherawat in the case. It was the first conviction in the cases reopened by the SIT.

The Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence. However, a Special Investigation Team on the riots reopened it.

Of the 650 cases registered in connection with anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, 267 were closed as untraced by the Delhi Police. Of these 267 cases, five were later taken up by the CBI. The SIT also scrutinised the records of 18 cancelled cases.

The SIT found 60 cases appropriate for further investigation. It filed "untraced report" in 52 cases in the last one-and-a-half years.

Out of the eight cases being investigated, charge sheets have been filed in five, and three, in which senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar is an accused, are pending investigation.