1984 anti-sikh riots: Prosecution demands death for two convicts Convict assaulted by BJP MLA on court premises

NEW DELHI: The SIT on 1984 anti-sikh riots Thursday sought death penalty for two persons convicted by a court here, saying that it was part of a “genocide” against members of a particular community and fell under the rarest of rare category of cases warranting the capital punishment. Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey reserved for November 20 the order on the quantum of punishment to be awarded to Naresh Sherawat and Yashpal Singh for killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh in Mahipalpur area of South Delhi during the riots.

It was the first conviction in the cases reopened by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up in 2015. Delhi police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence. However, a SIT on the riots reopened it. The SIT demand was opposed by the counsel appearing for the convicts who sought life imprisonment for his clients, the minimum for the offence of murder.

During the proceedings, the public prosecutor for SIT Surinder Mohit Singh said that it was “brutal murder of two innocent young persons aged around 25 each. It was a planned murder since the accused were carrying kerosene oil, sticks etc.”

It was not the only incident in Delhi and around 3,000 people were killed, he added.

“People from only one community were targeted. It was a genocide. The incidents had an international effect and it took 34 years to get justice. A signal should go to the society to deter them from committing such horrible crimes. This is rarest of rare case which calls for death penalty,” Singh said. However, the demand was opposed by advocate O P Sharma, appearing for the convicts, who said that the attack was not deliberate or planned but a sudden flare up.

“The Prime Minister of the country was shot dead by her own bodyguards belong- NEW DELHI: One of the convicts in a 1984 anti-sikh riots case was Thursday assaulted by BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa in Patiala House Courts moments after a court reserved its order on the quantum of punishment to be awarded to two persons for killing two men. The convicts were being taken by policemen to the lock up inside the premises where Tihar or other jail inmates are kept when they are brought for court hearings.

Sirsa and his supporters, who claimed to have come in the solidarity with the victims of the riots and their families, had gathered around the courtroom and while both the convicts -- Naresh Sherawat and Yashpal Singh -- were taken out after the court hearing, the BJP leader barged into the police ring around the duo and slapped Yashpal. The police personnel were quick to separate the convicts from Sirsa and his supporters. However, both the sides hurled abuses at each other. Thereafter, more police personnel were called in and the convicts were taken to the lock up in their presence.

Senior advocate H S Phoolka, who appeared for the victims, condemned the incident, saying “these kinds of incidents are likely to adversely affect the case of the victim. Everyone should control their emotions and maintain peace within the court premises”.