1984 anti-Sikh riots case: Delhi High Court rejects State plea to condone 28-year delay in appealing acquittal

The Delhi High Court recently rejected a plea by the State to condone a delay of 27 years and 335 days in filing an appeal against the acquittal of several people in a case related to anti-Sikh riots of 1984. [State v Hari Lal & Ors].The FIR was registered for offences under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 436, and 427 of Indian Penal code (IPC) at Saraswati Vihar Police Station for the incidents of rioting, looting and killing of Sikh persons in the national capital in October and November of 1984 after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. All the accused in the case were acquitted by the Sessions Court through an order dated March 28, 1995..Interestingly, the SN Dhingra committee, appointed by the Supreme Court, had recommended in 2019 that an appeal may be filed in this case.In an order pronounced on Monday, a division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna noted that it is not in dispute that the accused were acquitted as the witnesses produced during the evidence by the prosecution were not found believable..The Court said that if the prosecution or the complainant were aggrieved by the judgment of acquittal, there was nothing which prevented them from filing the appeal on time.“It was not disputed on behalf of the State that no further investigations have been carried out by the Investigating Agencies and no fresh material in respect of the alleged offences has been placed on record. There is no explanation as to why the State or the complainant did not file the appeal on the grounds that were available even at the time of acquittal,” the bench said..It further observed that the reason now being cited is the findings by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). However, the SIT also observed that the reason for disbelieving the witnesses on account of the delay of FIR was not correct, the Court noted. This ground existed at the time of trial and acquittal, the Court pointed out. .“It is evident that the grounds of appeal which are now been agitated are purely on the merits of the case which existed even at the time of trial and consequent acquittal. No reason whatsoever has been given for explaining the delay of about 28 years. Pertinently, the Report was given by SIT on 15.04.2019 but even thereafter there is a delay of about four years for which no cogent explanation has been given," the Court said. .The bench noted that there has been a delay of nearly 28 years in the present case and no explanation has been given for the same. The Court further held that grounds taken by the State were not justifiable either.Therefore, the Court dismissed the application seeking the condonation of delay as well as the leave petition..Additional Public Prosecutor Tarang Srivastava appeared for the State..[Read Order]