If the CBIs clean chit to Jagdish Tytler trashed the opinion of its own officers who recommended prosecution as reported in The Sunday Express its record of action against Sajjan Kumar is a textbook story of ineptitude. The Sultanpuri case was the only 1984 riot case against Kumar being probed by the CBI before it registered five more cases against him following the Nanavati Commission report in 2005. One Navin Singh was allegedly murdered,the complainant in the case being his wife,Anwar Kaur. In December 2002,the trial judge had acquitted Sajjan Kumar,among others,in the Sultanpuri case alleging his involvement in the killing in Sultanpuri saying the CBI had miserably failed to prove the case. It took the CBI a full five years to get its appeal against the acquittal admitted in the Delhi High Court. And to this date,even arguments havent seriously begun. During the hearing on March 5,2007,when the appeal was admitted,the CBI counsel named three witnesses as having given depositions that categorically implicate Sajjan Kumar,and informed the court that one of them even suffered trishul injuries during the riots. The bench,comprising Justice Manmohan Sarin and Justice S L Bhayana,said it would conduct day-to-day hearings and granted bail to Sajjan Kumar. High Court records show that in the two years since the appeal was admitted,hearings have been repeatedly adjourned on one pretext or the other. Most recently,due to a change in the bench,judges recusing or non-appearance of CBIs counsel. The pace of CBIs investigations in the five other cases against Sajjan Kumar registered after the Nanavati report following which he had to resign from the post of Chairman,Delhi Rural Development Board has been similarly tardy. There are no chargesheets in sight despite the fact that the agency was handed over the entire set of case records by the Delhi Police that included thousands of pages of affidavits filed before various commissions of inquiry. Progress reports submitted by the CBI to the Ministry of Home Affairs reveal that in a majority of these cases,key witnesses have deposed against the Congress leader. Some of the salient statements,as per the CBIs own admission: n In the case of killings in the Delhi Cantonment area,the CBI recorded the testimony of Jagdish Kaur,the wife of one of the victims and Jagsher Singh,the brother of another victim,both of whom have said they had seen Sajjan Kumar inciting the mob against Sikhs. Their statements are now being recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 CrPC. n In another case of Sultanpuri,the CBI has examined 82 witnesses and added 47 important documents to the pile of evidence. Other witnesses,according to the agency,are still being examined. n In the case of the killing of a doctor in Mangolpuri,the CBI has said that while one key witness has passed away,it has got the testimony of one Surender Singh in Ludhiana. He had also given an affidavit to the Nanavati Commission and has claimed to the CBI that Sajjan Kumar instigated the mob to kill Sikhs. n In the last of the Sultanpuri cases,dealing with the killing of 60 persons,the CBI has managed to get seven witnesses who have given 164 CrPC statements about the alleged involvement of Sajjan Kumar. And yet the wait for the chargesheets continues. (Tomorrow: Behind the CBIs flip-flops in the Mulayam assets case)
