1984 Anti-Sikh Riots: Delhi High Court upholds conviction of 80 people, awards 5-year jail term

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of 80 people in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the national capital following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The court dismissed their appeals against a trial court verdict and awarded them five years jail term. High Court judge justice RK Gauba ordered all the convicts to surrender before the police within four weeks.

On August 27, 1996, a Sessions Court had convicted them for burning houses and curfew violations during the riots in East Delhi's Trilokpuri area. The convicts had challenged the order in the Delhi High Court.

Also Read | 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots: Yashpal Singh awarded death sentence, Naresh Sherawat gets life term

Over 3,000 people were killed in a large-scale riots that broke out after the killing of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Delhi's Trilokpuri area was one of the worst-hit parts of the national capital. As many as 95 people were killed and hundreds of houses were gutted. 

The Narendra Modi-led government, who had promised a probe into the anti-Sikh riots during the 2014 elections, had decided to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the 220-plus closed cases in the 1984 riots.

A panel headed by Justice (retired) GP Mathur had suggested for fresh investigation in 225 cases that included cases against Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler.

Earlier this month, the Patiala House Court announced first capital sentence in the case and wared death sentence to accused Yashpal Singh and life imprisonment to Naresh Sehrawat for their role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Also Read | Arun Jaitley blames Congress for triggering 1984 anti-Sikh riots, praises Modi, Vajpayee governments

On November 14, the court convicted Singh and Sherawat for killing two men here during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots -- the first conviction in the cases reopened by the SIT. The Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence. However, a Special Investigation Team on the riots reopened it.