Didn't refer Gauhati HC verdict on CBI in trial court: Sajjan Kumar

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar today denied having referred before a Delhi court the Gauhati High Court judgement on CBI seeking relief in the agency's probe against him in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

However, his claim was disputed by the counsel for the riot victims who said Kumar had mentioned the November 6 verdict by showing newspaper reports in the court of District Judge J R Aryan.

In an e-mail today, Kumar's lawyer Anil Sharma claimed several newspapers and news channels have incorrectly reported that his counsel cited the high court verdict.

"It is clarified specifically that it was not the stand that consequent to the judgement of Gauhati High Court, the case cannot proceed against him (Kumar)," the e-mail said.

However, Sharma himself had said yesterday that he had sought such a relief mentioning the Gauhati High Court order.

The clarification was disputed by senior advocate H S Phoolka, who represents riot victims in the case, saying "Sajjan Kumar's lawyer I U Khan (yesterday) mentioned Gauhati High Court judgement holding CBI as illegal and showed a newspaper report.

"In response I argued that proceedings cannot be stopped on this ground. I also argued those were proceedings for quashing charge sheet and if he wants he can go for quashing. Sajjan Kumar was also present in court. Now his email to media denying this is totally wrong."