Conviction of accused in anti-Sikh riots case upheld

Conviction of accused in anti-Sikh riots case upheld
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, DEC 17: Fifteen years after four members of a Sikh family were burnt alive during the anti-Sikh riots in the capital, the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction of two for being part of the mob which committed murder but commuted their sentence to life imprisonment.

A bench comprising Justices K T Thomas and D P Mohapatra in its nine-page judgement upheld the conviction of Jaggu and Mannu, who as part of the mob, first looted Harbai's house in Trilokpuri on November 2, 1984, and then doused her four sons with petrol before setting them on fire.

The trial court had awarded capital punishment to both and the Delhi High Court had confirmed both the conviction and sentence given by the trial court. The accused filed appeals against the High Court order in Supreme Court.

Justice K T Thomas, writing the judgment for the bench, said, ``What the appellants have done were no doubt acts of most gruesome nature. But we bear in mind that they were on a rampage, and ran berserk unguided by sense orreason and triggered only by a demented psyche,'' he said.

Justice Thomas said, ``They had no special or personal animosity towards any of the deceased. The assassination of ex-PM Indira Gandhi had blindfolded them and unfortunately there was no leadership to bridle the mob frenzy unleashed with all cruelty.''

However, keeping in view an earlier judgment on the anti-Sikh riots which held that ``acts of the mob, of which the appellant was a member, was only the result of a temporary frenzy,'' the judge said the accused should be awarded life term instead of death penalty.