HC overturns acquittal of four in 1984 riots case, orders retrial of surviving accused

In May 1986, a trial court acquitted the four accused of arson and murder, citing contradictions between the woman’s statements to police and in court, as well as the delay in filing the complaint.

The Delhi high court has set aside a nearly 40-year-old verdict that acquitted four men in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and ordered a retrial, saying the trial was conducted in a “hasty manner” and that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to make sufficient efforts to collect evidence.

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The case concerned the killing of Harbhajan Singh in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar on November 1, 1984 — a day after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination. According to his wife, a group of men attacked and set her husband ablaze and also torched their home.

In May 1986, a trial court acquitted the four accused of arson and murder, citing contradictions between the woman’s statements to police and in court, as well as the delay in filing the complaint.

A bench of justices Subramanian Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar took up the matter suo motu after prima facie finding faults in the 1986 judgment and describing the investigation as “perfunctory”. The issue came up while the bench was hearing appeals in another case from the same locality, in which five men — including former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, ex-MLA Captain Bhagmal, and Girdhari Lal — were convicted in 2013 for the murder of five Sikhs. Among the appellants in that case was Krishan Khokhar, brother of Balwan Khokhar.

The court noted that neither the state nor the victims had challenged the 1986 acquittal, but said it could not ignore a flawed investigation and trial, particularly when the verdict was being cited in other appeals.

In its verdict delivered on Monday, the bench said the trial court’s decision had resulted in a “miscarriage of justice” to the victim’s wife and children, depriving them of their fundamental right to a fair trial.

The judges faulted the CBI for failing to trace the victim’s body or recover articles stolen from the house. They also noted that investigators did not associate key witnesses with the probe, including the victim’s children — who were present at the time — and neighbours.

The court rejected the trial court’s conclusion that contradictions in the woman’s testimony undermined the case, saying there was enough material to support her account. It also said the investigating agency had not taken “sufficient efforts” to gather the best possible evidence.

“Failure to order a reinvestigation 40 years after the incident would be turning a Nelson’s eye to society’s needs and the victim’s rights to a comprehensive, free, and fair probe,” the bench said.

Quoting the amicus curiae, senior advocate Vivek Sood, the court noted that after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, large-scale violence forced widows, children, and residents to flee their homes for safety. This, it said, meant witnesses would not have been readily available for investigation — but that did not absolve the agency of its duty to secure evidence using the powers under the Criminal Procedure Code.

“These errors have resulted in miscarriage of justice… If not rectified, this may result in loss of hope in our legal system and compromise the interests of society,” the bench observed.

Sood argued that the acquittal was “totally perverse” and ignored the scale of violence, property destruction, and displacement suffered by victims. He pointed out that the complainant herself was forced to leave Delhi after her husband’s killing and the loss of her home.

While the counsel for the sole surviving accused argued that a retrial would serve no useful purpose, the court clarified that the fresh trial would apply only to him. Proceedings against the three other accused have abated due to their deaths. The CBI has been directed to conclude the probe expeditiously, bearing in mind the age of the case.

In a separate ruling, the same bench ordered the reconstruction of four-decade-old trial records in another 1984 anti-Sikh riots case from Raj Nagar. That case concerns the acquittal of five men, including Balwan Khokhar, in the killing of four Sikhs. The court said victims’ and society’s rights to a fair investigation and trial cannot be undermined by missing files or flawed earlier proceedings, and directed the trial court to undertake the reconstruction.