New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India (SCI) while giving an impression as a guardian of justice and well wisher of the Sikh survivors of November 1984 Sikh genocide has on Thursday refused to stay the proceedings in Sikh killing cases before the Delhi High Court which has issued show cause notices to 11 persons asking why they should not be re-tried.
Supreme Court of India (SCI) [File Photo]
Eleven persons including former councillor Balwan Khokhar and ex-MLA Mahender Yadav have already been acquitted by a trial court in five cases and the High Court, after perusing case files, on its own took note and issued show cause notices to them., media sources said.
As reported by the media the bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud declined the plea of Yadav, saying it would not stay the proceedings before the high court.
Earlier this year on 29th March the Delhi High Court issued notices to these 11 persons who had faced trial for various offences during the massacre on November 1 and 2, 1984 in the Delhi Cantonment area were either acquitted or were released on bail for various excuses.
Aggrieved by the decision, Yadav moved the SCI, saying the high court has no power to suo motu reopen trial in the cases in which he has been acquitted.
The Delhi High Court asked those acquitted by the trial courts or those granted bail by the Delhi Hight Court itself as to why it should not order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they had faced allegations of “horrifying crimes against humanity”, reads a quote from a report published in an English vernacular.
The trial court records were placed before the high court by the CBI during the hearing of another 1984 killing case in which the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and punishment awarded to other convicts is under challenge by CBI, the genocide victims and convicts, note Economic Times (ET).