Sanction for prosecution. Put Sajjan Kumar’s trial on fast track

The Delhi Lt-Governor’s sanction to the CBI to prosecute former MP and Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for his alleged involvement in the horrendous 1984 anti-Sikh riots is indicative of the Centre’s belated resolve to bring the culprits to book. That it took as many as 25 years for the authorities to seek his prosecution for his questionable role in the riots that followed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination is inexplicable. A case was registered against him after the G.T. Nanavati Commission report in February 2005 recommended fresh examination of complaints in which Sajjan Kumar had been named and no chargesheet had been filed. As he is a former MP, the Lt-Governor’s sanction for prosecution was mandatory. But then, the Centre should not have taken so much time to sanction his prosecution. The ends of justice will be met only if his prosecution is put on fast track for an early trial.
Undoubtedly, the Calling Attention Motion moved by Mr Tarlochan Singh in the Rajya Sabha last month helped expedite the Centre’s action on Sajjan Kumar. It is noteworthy that in response to this motion on the progress of relief to the victims of 1984 riots and the measures being taken to punish the guilty, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha that he would request Lt-Governor Tejinder Khanna to decide by December-end. Now that his clearance has come, the case has become the CBI’s responsibility. The CBI is now duty-bound to ensure that there is no further delay in the trial and prosecution of Sajjan Kumar.
One does not know as yet the fate of Mr Jagdish Tytler, former Union Minister. The Congress gave tickets to him and Sajjan Kumar to contest the last Lok Sabha elections, but retracted following a public outcry. On December 16, 2009, the Union Home Ministry clarified that there was no case pending for sanction of prosecution related to Mr Tytler. Meanwhile, the death of Surinder Singh, a key witness accused of flip-flops regarding Mr Tytler’s involvement in the riots, has given a new twist to the case. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi, will hear on February 10, 2010, the CBI’s justification of the closure report defending Mr Tytler. People’s confidence in the criminal justice system can be restored only if the culprits, however high and powerful they may be, are brought to justice for their role in one of nation’s most traumatic events since Independence. 

Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.

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