Gulberg case: HC wants ‘paper book’ to expedite appeals
AHMEDABAD: To expedite the hearing of appeals in the 2002 Gulberg society massacre case, the Gujarat High Court Thursday directed the court registry to prepare ‘paper book’ of documents within four weeks. A division bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice A C Rao passed the direction after learning that some of the convicts have served more time in prison than the duration of their sentence. The ‘paper book’ contains all the orders of lower courts, list of dates, grounds of appeal, annexures, affidavits and various other material needed to start the hearing. (PTI)
1984 anti-Sikh riots: SC to hear Sajjan Kumar’s appeal on Jan 14
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on January 14 the appeal filed by former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar challenging the Delhi High Court verdict convicting and sentencing him to life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. 73-year-old Kumar had surrendered before a trial court here on December 31, 2018 to serve the sentence in pursuance of the high court’s December 17 judgement awarding him life imprisonment for the “remainder of his natural life”. After his conviction in the case, Kumar had resigned from the Congress party. As per the list of business of the apex court for January 14, his appeal against the high court’s verdict is scheduled to be heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. The case in which Kumar was convicted and sentenced relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar Part-I area of southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part-II. The anti-sikh riots had broken out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards. (PTI)
Separatists condemn killing of Sikh youth in J&K
Srinagar: Separatists leaders on hursday condemned the killing of a Sikh youth by unidentified gunmen in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir last week. They said killing of any human being irrespective of the faith he belongs to deserves highest form of condemnation. In a joint statement issued, separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik said many attempts were made to trigger a sectarian wedge and the Sikh community was targeted time and again but they always stood shoulder to shoulder with the majority community and the ongoing freedom struggle. They said when the gruesome incident of Chattisingpora massacre of Sikhs took place in 2000, the members of Sikh community “showed wisdom, remained patient and defeated the anti-Kashmir agencies and people”. “It is the collective responsibility of the (separatist) leadership and people to protect the minorities,” the statement said. Simranjeet Singh was shot dead by suspected militants on January 4 in Tral area of Pulwama district. (PTI)