1984 riots: High court grants 10-day interim bail to convict

The Delhi high court on Tuesday granted interim bail of 10 days to Balwan Khokhar, one of the three convicts serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on medical grounds and for attending his son’s marriage.

The Delhi high court on Tuesday granted interim bail of 10 days to Balwan Khokhar, one of the three convicts serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on medical grounds and for attending his son’s marriage.

One-of-the-victims-of-1984-anti-Sikh-riots-at-a-protest-against-Sajjan-Kumar-outside-Karkardooma-court-PTI

A bench of justice Sanjiv Khanna and justice Ashutosh Kumar said Khokhar would remain on bail for 10 days from the date of his release and listed the matter for further hearing on May 12.

Khokhar said in his bail plea that his son’s marriage is scheduled to take place on April 30. The bench granted him bail on the basis of a medical report submitted by the Tihar jail authorities pursuant to the court’s earlier directions.

On April 15, the court had called for a medical report after it was informed that the convict broke his hand after falling down in jail.

The court had that day refused to grant bail to co-convict Girdhari Lal. Khokhar was held guilty, along with four others, in a case related to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The former councillor has also challenged his conviction and award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013. The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the case but awarded life term to retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Balwan Khokhar and Girdhari Lal.

The court had also awarded three years’ imprisonment to former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar. The high court had in September 2013 denied bail to Bhagmal.

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 “a planned communal riot” and “religious cleansing”