1984 riots case: HC grants bail to Sajjan Kumar

The Delhi high court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to former Congress Member of Parliament Sajjan Kumar and six others in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

Justice A K Pathak, while pronouncing the bail order, directed the accused to furnish a personal and surety bond of Rs 50,000 each. The court had on February 22 reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of Kumar and other accused Mahendra Yadav, Brahmanand Gupta, Krishan Khokhar, Balwant Khokhar, Peru and Ved Prakash, who have all been charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

A lower court had issued non-bailable warrants against Kumar, 64, and others after they failed to appear before it despite its summons. The politician had accused the CBI of harassment, claiming that he had appeared before the investigating agency many times in the past but it had not then felt the need to arrest him.

The former Outer Delhi Member of Parliament had reportedly gone missing since February 19, leading to the suspension of his Personal Security Officer by the Delhi police.

The CBI had on February 23 informed the court that they could not arrest Kumar as he could not be located, prompting the judge to slam the investigating agency for 'not being serious in apprehending' the Congress leader.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma had earlier issued summons against Kumar and 12 others, after taking cognisance of the two charge-sheets filed against them in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases.

The CBI had charge-sheeted 12 people, including Kumar, on January 13 in two separate riot 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 on October 31, 1984.

The probe agency had filed the charge-sheets in the court after concluding its investigation into the cases registered on the recommendation of the Nanavati Commission in 2005. The cases, in which the charge-sheets were filed against Kumar and several others, were registered in police stations in Sultanpuri and Delhi Cantonment, following the killing of seven and five persons respectively in the riots.