The Delhi high court on Thursday granted 14-day bail to former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, serving life term in a the anti-Sikh riots case, to enable him to sell his property and arrange funds to pay his lawyers.
A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra released Khokhar on bail on the condition that he will neither leave the national capital nor try to contact or influence the witnesses in the case.
The CBI opposed Khokhar’s plea saying complaints have been received that he had tried to pressurise witnesses in the past by contacting their relatives.
Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
They had challenged their conviction and the award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013. The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, but it is is now being challenged by the agency before the court.
The HC had on March 29 issued show-cause notices to 11 accused, including Khokhar and Yadav, in five 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.
{{/usCountry}}The HC had on March 29 issued show-cause notices to 11 accused, including Khokhar and Yadav, in five 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.
{{/usCountry}}The accused, who were acquitted of the charges, were asked why should the court not order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of “horrifying crimes against humanity”.