Delhi HC issues notice in anti-Sikh riots convict’s furlough plea

Khokhar has moved the high court challenging the September 4 order of the director general of prisons at Tihar Jail, rejecting his furlough request on the ground that his release could pose a threat to public peace and order

New Delhi

A bench of justice Ravinder Dudeja sought the jail director general of prisons’ response and scheduled the next hearing for November 17. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice in a petition filed by former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, convicted and sentenced to life in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, seeking release on three weeks’ furlough to reconnect with his family.

A bench of justice Ravinder Dudeja sought the jail director general of prisons’ response and scheduled the next hearing for November 17.

Khokhar has moved the high court challenging the September 4 order of the director general of prisons at Tihar Jail, rejecting his furlough request on the ground that his release could pose a threat to public peace and order.

In his plea, filed through advocate Uday Chauhan, Khokhar contended that the DG (prisons) failed to take into account that he has been granted furlough on multiple occasions in the past, during which no adverse incident was reported against him.

“The petitioner was granted 10 interim bail, two parole, seven furlough during his incarceration and he had never misused the liberty granted by this court or the liberty of furlough granted by the competent authority of the state. The respondent has erred in terming the reason as generic in nature, thereby depriving the petitioner of the benefit,” the petition stated.

Khokhar, along with four others, was convicted of murder and rioting in 2013 by a trial court. However, former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was acquitted in the same case. The case dates to November 1, 1984, when five people from the Sikh community were killed and a gurudwara in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar was torched following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

In December 2018, the Delhi High Court upheld Khokhar’s conviction and sentence, while overturning the acquittal of Kumar. Khokhar’s appeal against the high court’s verdict is currently pending before the Supreme Court.