Prayagraj, March 25 The Allahabad High Court has rejected several petitions filed by nine accused seeking to quash criminal proceedings initiated against them for their alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur.
Describing the mass violence following the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi as a "genocide" and a "crime against humanity," the court held that delays in recording witness statements and the unavailability of original police records cannot be grounds for quashing the proceedings.
Justice Anish Kumar Gupta, in the judgment passed on Tuesday, dismissed a batch of petitions filed by the accused seeking to quash criminal proceedings pending against them before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kanpur Nagar.
The common feature in all cases was that FIRs were lodged immediately after the incidents. However, in all cases, final reports were submitted exonerating all the accused.
Later, the central government appointed the Justice Nanavati Commission to inquire into the anti-Sikh riot cases. Subsequently, the Supreme Court appointed an SIT to investigate the matter.
In accordance with these directions, investigations were carried out, witnesses were examined, and thereupon chargesheets were filed against the applicants, and the concerned court took cognizance in all the cases.
Challenging the criminal proceedings, the applicants argued before the bench that since the original records (FIRs, final reports, post-mortem reports, etc.) of the case were not available, there could not be any effective trial.
It was further contended that the witness statements recorded by the SIT cast serious doubt on their identities and violated their right to a fair procedure under Article 21 of the Constitution.
On the other hand, counsel for the state government opposed the petitions, arguing that the Supreme Court had taken judicial notice of these crimes against humanity and deliberately constituted the SIT to reinvestigate the cases despite knowing that the original records were missing.
State government counsel also relied on the Supreme Court's ruling in Sajjan Kumar vs CBI, wherein the trial court was directed to proceed with the trial, and it was held that the entire proceedings of the cases cannot be closed merely on the ground of delay.
The high court observed that the final reports in these matters were filed in a hurried manner to save the culprits, and it was an admitted fact that the original records had already either been weeded out or had been destroyed by termites.
"The incident in this case is part of a larger chain of incidents that have taken place against the Sikh community throughout the country after the assassination of late prime minister Smt. Indira Gandhi," the bench noted, according to the order.
"The nature of these incidents was like a genocide against a particular community in which various innocent persons were killed, burned alive, houses and properties were burnt, destroyed, and looted, and such a large-scale crime against humanity went unnoticed, and in almost all such cases, the final reports were submitted in a hurried manner to save various accused persons who were involved in the incident," the bench remarked.