1984 anti-Sikh riots: SIT submits final report to Supreme Court
While the Centre sought the court’s permission to disband the SIT, the riot victims’ counsel asked the bench to first examine the report.
The Special Investigation Team probing cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots filed its report in the Supreme Court on Friday, reported PTI. The SIT, led by Justice SN Dhingra, was formed by the top court last year to examine 186 cases closed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The Centre sought the court’s permission to disband the SIT after placing its report in a sealed cover. Senior advocate HS Phoolka, representing the riot victims, however, asked the court to first examine the SIT’s report before disbanding it. Phoolka said the court must see if anything more was required to be done by the team.
The bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant will now decide if the contents of the report could be shared with the petitioner. Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand argued against it.
The bench said it would hear the matter after two weeks.
In March, the top court had granted the SIT two months’ extension to complete its probe.
On October 31, 1984, anti-Sikh riots broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone.