New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will protest in New Delhi on Friday against the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The AAP has announced that it will protest at Jantar Mantar even though the police have not given the permission.
According to the AAP, Nirpreet Kaur, who lost her father in the riots, is on an indefinite fast demanding justice at Jantar Mantar. AAP workers will also observe a one day fast in support of Nirpreet Kaur. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he was ready to take on the Delhi Police if they will tried to stop the protest.
There have been massive protests by Sikhs after the Karkardooma court of District and Sessions Judge JR Aryan let off Sajjan Kumar in the 29-year-old case in which he was accused of murder and of instigating a riotous mob that killed five Sikhs in Delhi's cantonment area. On Wednesday a group of Sikhs stopped metro trains at Subhash Nagar Metro Station while on Thursday they demonstrated outside Sonia Gandhi's residence 10 Janpath.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will decide on challenging the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case after the quantum of sentence for guilty is pronounced by the court even though the public prosecutor claimed to have decided to recommend moving the Delhi High Court against the order.
CBI sources said the public prosecutor is free to express his opinion but a decision whether to appeal in High Court would be taken by the agency in consultation with the Director of Prosecution.
They said if CBI decides to appeal against the order, it would approach the Law Ministry seeking its approval for starting proceedings in the High Court to challenge the acquittal of the Congress leader from the rioting case.
The court has fixed May 6 for hearing the arguments on quantum of sentence in the case. The sources said the agency has not taken any decision in the matter as the complete order of the court would be available after quantum of sentence is decided by the court.
Kumar was acquitted of all charges by a Delhi court in one of the three 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases, a verdict that evoked strong protests from the riot victims' families.
Five others -- Balwan Khokkar, an ex-councillor, Mahender Yadav, an ex-MLA, Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal -- were convicted for their involvement in the riots that had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Kumar, a former Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi who was refused a Congress ticket for 2009 Lok Sabha elections, still faces trial in another 1984 rioting case. In a third case, Delhi Police has filed a closure report, saying there was no evidence against Kumar to implicate him.
(With additional information from PTI)
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