A Delhi court on Friday framed charges against senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and five others in a case of murder and spreading enmity between two communities in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
After finding prima facie evidence against Kumar, Balwan Khokhar, Krishan Khokhar, Mahender Yadav, Captain Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal, additional sessions judge (ASJ) Sunita Gupta ordered framing of charges against them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 302 (murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 395 (dacoity) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different communities).
The formal framing of charges would pave the way for initiating the trial in the case with the court fixing July 1 as the date for recording statement of witnesses.
All the accused pleaded not guilty and expressed their willingness to face the trial.
Kumar, in his defence, had claimed before the court that the accounts of CBI witnesses were not reliable as they had changed their versions a number of times.
62-year-old former Outer Delhi MP had also contended that the case against him could not stand as CBI re-registered it even though a Delhi court had given him a clean chit, accepting a cancellation report filed by Delhi police.
The court had on May 15 ordered framing of charges for the offences, which carry maximum sentence of death penalty in case of conviction.