The Delhi high court on Wednesday dismissed the bail plea of Captain Bhagmal, one of the three convicts awarded life sentence by a trial court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
A division bench of justices PK Bhasin and VP Vaish denied bail to 85-year old Bhagmal, who was held guilty along with two others in the case.
On April 30, the trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the case, but awarded life term to Bhagmal, former councillor Balwan Khokkar and Girdhari Lal. The court awarded three-year imprisonment to former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokkar.
All five were held guilty for their roles in the killing of five Sikhs during the riots that broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
The convicts have filed their appeals before the high court, while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also filed its appeal demanding death sentence for the trio, saying that they were engaged in "planned communal riots" and "religious cleansing".
According to the prosecution, five members of a Sikh family Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh were killed by a mob in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar area during the riots.
{{/usCountry}}According to the prosecution, five members of a Sikh family Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh were killed by a mob in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar area during the riots.
{{/usCountry}}Kehar was the husband and Gurpreet the son of complainant and eyewitness Jagdish Kaur, while Raghuvender, Narender and Kuldeep were her brothers.