According to the reports, on Wednesday, the Delhi high court has upheld the conviction of 88 people in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in east Delhi’s Trilokpuri area.
The court has also dismissed their petitions and has asked them to surrender within four weeks. Senior advocate, HS Phulka called it a “landmark judgment”. She told the media, “The court has criticized the fact that despite the recovery of 95 bodies, none of the accused were charged with murder. All the accused were sentenced to five years in jail and have been out on bail.”
A Delhi court on November 20, had ordered death penalty to the convict Yashpal Singh and ordered life imprisonment to another, Naresh Sherawat, for killing of two men during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
After the case was reopened by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2015, the court gave the first verdict: “Death penalty for one convict; life imprisonment for another”
Reportedly ,Singh’s offence fell under the “rarest of rare” category warranting the death penalty.
The Delhi Police had closed this case in 1994 for lack of evidence.
The 1984 riots broke-out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi leaving nearly 3,000 people dead.