1984 anti-Sikh riots: SC notice to CBI on Sajjan Kumar's appeal

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday sought response from the CBI on the appeal of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar challenging the Delhi High Court verdict convicting and sentencing him to life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi admitted the appeal of Sajjan Kumar for hearing and also issued notice to the CBI on his bail plea and sought its response within four weeks.

"The appeal is admitted. Issue notice on the prayer for bail/suspension of sentence, returnable in six weeks. Reply, if any, may be filed within four weeks," the bench, which also comprised Justices Ashok Bhushan and S K Kaul, said.

The top court also allowed the former Congress leader to file "lengthy list of dates" and "additional facts and grounds" in favour of his appeal.

The 73-year-old Kumar had surrendered before a trial court here on December 31, 2018 to serve the sentence in pursuance of the high court's December 17 judgment awarding him life imprisonment for the "remainder of his natural life".

After his conviction in the case, Kumar had resigned from the Congress party.

The case in which Kumar was convicted and sentenced relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar Part-I area of southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part-II. The anti-Sikh riots had broken out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards.