SIT for fresh probe into 1984 riot cases likely by next week

NEW DELHI: A Special Investigation Team is likely to be set up by the government next week for a fresh investigation into the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases.

The move comes a week after a Home Ministry-appointed a committee, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retired) G.P. Mathur, submitted its report to Home Minister Rajnath Singh recommending fresh probe into the anti-Sikh riot cases through a SIT, official sources said.

The Home Ministry was waiting for the Delhi Assembly polls to be over as the model code of conduct was in place in the national capital and such an announcement was prohibited, the sources said.

The anti-Sikhs riots had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

Of the 3,325 victims, 2,733 were killed in Delhi alone while the rest were in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.

BJP had earlier demanded reinvestigation into all anti-Sikh riot cases.

The Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of only four of 241 cases closed by police but BJP wanted the re-investigation into all the other 237 cases.

However, it is not clear how many cases the Justice Mathur committee has recommended for reopening.

Of the 241 related cases, only four were reopened and re-investigated by CBI. In two of the cases, CBI had filed a charge sheet and in one of the cases five persons, including a former MLA, were convicted.

On December 10, 2014, the government had approved a proposal to give an additional compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The compensation to the families of the riot victims will be in addition to what they have already received from the government and other agencies.

The fresh compensation will cost the exchequer Rs 166 crore.

The Justice Mathur Committee was appointed by the government on December 23, 2014 to examine the possibility of re-investigation of anti-Sikh riot cases through a SIT.