New Delhi: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar on Wednesday sought a direction to CBI from a Delhi court to provide him
and other accused documents referred to in the chargesheet
filed against them in two 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.
"It is not only necessary but highly desirable that the
probe agency provide us with the statements of witnesses who
had earlier been examined by different prosecuting agency," I
U Khan, counsel for Kumar submitted before Additional Sessions
Judge Sunita Gupta.
"What happened in earlier investigations? The moment
CBI file the records before the court or supply the documents
to us, we will get discharged," he said.
Khan invoked the right to equality before the law and
the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under the
Constitution to state that the supply of documents was
necessary to ensure a fair trial to the accused.
He referred to various judgements of the High Courts and
the apex Court to buttress his argument that denial of
documents by the probe agency was "unfair and unjust".
Kumar and other accused, in their plea, sought records
relating to the cases pertaining to the riots that took place
at Sultanpuri and Delhi Cantt areas following the
assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on
October 31, 1984.
The documents included judicial as well as police
records of the cases registered at police station Sultanpuri
and other places and copy of memorandum of action taken on the
report of Justice G T Nanavati Commission of inquiry which was
set up to inquire into riots of 1984.
CBI counsel Y K Saxena opposed the plea of Kumar and
other accused, stating the cases were registered afresh
after the government decided to take up the cases irrespective
of the earlier investigations as these were related to large
number of killings.
He also claimed no prejudice would be caused to the
accused if those documents were not supplied to them as
whatever was mentioned in the chargesheet has not been relied
upon by the prosecuting agency.
The CBI had filed two chargesheets on January 13 against
Kumar and others in the riots cases registered on the
recommendation of Nanavati Commission, which had inquired into
the sequence of events leading to the riots.
Earlier, during his lengthy arguments, Kumar`s counsel
took exception to alleged out-of-the-court briefings by the
CBI counsel to media persons. He referred to two news
reports and sought the court`s intervention in the matter.
PTI
