New Delhi: In yet another judicial stunt a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India (SCI) will examine on December 11 a panel report submitted by a supervisory committee of two retired SCI judges tasked with vetting the procedure followed into the closure of 241 Sikh genocide cases by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Supreme Court of India (SCI) [File Photo]
The Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asked Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand and others to assist the court on December 11 when it peruses the report submitted in a locked leather case. The SCI had appointed two of its former judges, Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.M. Panchal, on the supervisory committee, media reports said.
It was back in August this year that a Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra, as he was then, had decided to independently examine the investigation records of the 241 cases and confirm that there was nothing more to do on them and facilitate the once and for all closure for the SIT.
A total of 3,325 people were killed in the 1984 Sikh pogrom in which Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths, while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other States.
The SIT was set up on February 12, 2015, following a recommendation by the Home Ministry-appointed Justice (retd.) G.P. Mathur committee. The SIT is headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch.
To give an impression of investigation to the Sikh masses the SIT had questioned Congress leader Sajjan Kumar thrice and asked him questions about the allegations that he instigated a mob in Janakpuri on November 1, 1984, which led to the killing of two Sikhs — Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh, reports The Hindu (TH).