CBI, political foes plotted against me, says Sajjan

Veteran Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, facing trial in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on Thursday told a Delhi court that there was a "conspiracy" between the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and his political rivals, especially the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), to falsely implicate him in the matter.

Veteran Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, facing trial in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on Thursday told a Delhi court that there was a "conspiracy" between the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and his political rivals, especially the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), to falsely implicate him in the matter.

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Advocate IU Khan, appearing for Sajjan, argued before district judge JR Aryan that the investigation in the case, in which five Sikhs were killed during the riots in the Delhi cantonment area after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, was done with a "set and conditioned mind" to frame him.

"The case is the outcome of a conspiracy between the CBI and Sajjan Kumar's political opponents… leaders of the Akali Dal and other parties opposed to him. Their motive was to falsely implicate him in the case," the counsel said during final arguments of the case.

In the later stage of the final arguments, the complainant and the CBI will be given a chance by the court to counter the submissions made by Sajjan.

The counsel argued that witnesses belonging to Amritsar were made to stay at Punjab Bhawan, local premises of the Punjab government, in 2000 when the SAD was in power in the state and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.