Launching an indirect attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), lawyer and Aam Adami Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka, who represents families affected in the 1984 Sikh massacre, has said that those who oppose handing over the case to the special investigating team (SIT) want to save union minister Kamal Nath.
In the past also, whenever Kamal Nath was suspected to have come under the scanner, conspiracies were made to save him, the lawyer has said. "The SIT will be formed in just about a month, before the Lok Sabha elections," said Phoolka.
Asked if the SAD also want to save Kamal Nath, he said: "I don't know but you could ask them (the Akalis) why they have been opposing the SIT. It is no logic that the SIT will delay justice. So far, it was only the Congress but now a few other parties have also questioned the move."
To the criticism that the SIT would delay justice further, he said only three cases were pending in the trial courts. "These will not be affected but pursued separately," said Phoolka, adding: "Of the 587 cases registered, police closed 241, citing lack of evidence. The rest are alive."
Favouring the SIT, he said: "After 25 years of the crime, only four cases were opened after the Nanawati Commission report, and charge sheets filed in three. If evidences can be found after 25 years, it can emerge after 30 years also. In one of the four cases, five of the six accused were convicted and punished."
{{/usCountry}}Favouring the SIT, he said: "After 25 years of the crime, only four cases were opened after the Nanawati Commission report, and charge sheets filed in three. If evidences can be found after 25 years, it can emerge after 30 years also. In one of the four cases, five of the six accused were convicted and punished."
{{/usCountry}}For the killing of nearly 3,000 people, only 28 people had been convicted, said Phoolka, to stress that it was necessary to reopen the cases. "Some of the witnesses are still alive. If more years pass, even they will die. True, all the culprits cannot be punished but some of them should be," the AAP leader added.
Would like to run from Ludhiana
Asked about the speculation that he will contest the Lok Sabha election from Sangrur, he said: "I have good links in Ludhiana. If the party asks me, I'll favour contesting from there. I have told (AAP leader) Yogendra Yadav to not stoke me into one constituency, if they want to use me all over the India."