1984 riots: Delhi HC refuses to condone 27-yr delay in appealing against murder acquittal

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has refused to grant permission to the state to challenge the acquittal of three accused persons in a 1984 Sikh riots case after a delay of more than 27 years.

A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma on October 21 noted it was conscious of the large-scale loss of human lives and property but it couldn't condone the "long delay" in filing of the appeal by the prosecution.

The prosecution, while seeking the "leave to appeal", urged the court to condone the delay of 10,165 days in filing the appeal against the trial court's order of acquittal passed on July 29, 1995 in the murder and rioting case.

Dismissing the plea, the bench held, "Considering the long delay and the decisions of the coordinate bench in similar cases, upheld by the Supreme Court, the delay is not liable to be condoned. Thus, leave (to appeal) is not liable to be granted."

The prosecution, on the other hand, had said the Justice S N Dhingra Committee was constituted in December 2018 to look into the cases in relation to violence and after its report came out in April 2019, internal reviews were conducted and the matters were processed for filing of appeals.

Large-scale violence against the members of the Sikh community erupted in Delhi following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her Sikh security guards.