Supreme Court seeks response from CBI on plea seeking suspension of sentence in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was ordered by the Supreme Court on Friday to respond to Balwan Khokhar’s request for a sentence postponement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot case.
Justices JK Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal directed the CBI to respond to Khokhar’s appeal for a sentence suspension.
In his plea, which he filed through advocate Rakesh Dahiya, he informed the top court that despite the court’s specific directive to consider the applicant’s application for furlough as soon as possible, the jail authorities only rejected the application on September 26, 2024, and on the completely baseless, nonexistent, and unfounded grounds that releasing the applicant would have negative consequences and could cause social unrest.
Khokhar, the applicant, said that he had filed an intervening application for bail, but that at that point, the applicant’s sentence was only eight years and seven months, and that it had been revoked by an order dated February 3, 2023.
The December 17, 2018, High Court ruling has been contested by Khokhar. Khokhar and Sajjan Kumar are serving life sentences in the Central Jail in Tihar, Delhi, after being found guilty on a number of charges under the Indian Penal Code.
In the case that resulted from a formal complaint filed at the Delhi Cantt Police Station, the Trial Court found him guilty.
In his application, Khokhar said that he is 66 years old, a senior citizen, and physically disabled, with a 54% permanent impairment in his lower leg. He also claimed to have a number of illnesses, including diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension with CA.