HC: Murder charge on Sajjan to stay
In a major setback to the senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, the high court on Monday refused to quash the murder and rioting charges against him in cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Justice Vipin Sanghi dismissed the petition of 62-year-old Kumar on the ground that the “circumstances and the nature of the offence is certainly not such as to justify the quashing of charges against the petitioner-accused in the interest of justice”. The court said, “The materials produced by the prosecution, along with the chargesheet, namely, statements of various prosecution witnesses raises grave suspicion against the petitioner (Kumar) accused about the commission of the alleged offences.”
The court also made it clear that at this stage it can’t be said that the petitioner is not involved in the commission of offences, of which he is charged. Mr Kumar moved the court against a sessions court’s order in May seeking to quash the framing of charges against him, including murder and rioting.
Mr Kumar is facing prosecution in two cases in which he has been accused of inciting mobs during the 1984 riots.
The court also turned down the plea of Mr Kumar that delay in the prosecution has adversely affected his case.
“The delay in the prosecution of the case against the accused does not, in any event, appear to have caused any prejudice to him. He has not faced the trial for over two-and-a-half decades and has enjoyed his freedom,” the court said.
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