Panel to examine SIT move on ’84 riot cases

The Supreme Court has nominated two former judges as members of the supervisory panel that will scrutinize the decision taken by the special investigation team (SIT), set up by the Centre, to close 199 cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Justice JM Panchal and Justice KSP Radhakrishnan will start working from September 5 and submit a report within three months to the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, the SC order released on Friday said.

The panel would examine if the SIT was justified in closing the cases.

Justice Misra had on August 15 ordered constitution of the panel but had not named the judges.

“We constitute a supervisory body of two former judges of this court, namely Justice J M Panchal and Justice K S P Radhakrishnan, who shall scrutinise the 199 matters which have been closed and express the view whether there was justification to close the cases,” read the order. The panel will also look into 42 more cases the SIT plans to close.

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots that broke out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone.

After coming into power, the NDA government had constituted the SIT to reinvestigate the cases registered in the aftermath of the riots and appointed 1986batch IPS officer Pramod Asthana to head it.

Former district and sessions judge, Rakesh Kapoor and Delhi Police additional deputy commissioner, Kumar Gyanesh, were its members.

As per the order, the Centre will provide requisite assistance to the supervisory body, which will get all financial benefits as permissible in law.

The bench fixed December 6 to hear the matter and directed that the records related to the 199 cases, which were placed before it in a sealed cover, be produced before the supervisory body.

On March 24 the Centre had placed before the top court files pertaining to these 199 cases of the anti-Sikh riots which the SIT had closed.