Sikhs fleeing the capital stranded at the New Delhi railway station on November 2 during 1984 riots in Delhi. Express archive photo Sikhs fleeing the capital stranded at the New Delhi railway station on November 2 during 1984 riots in Delhi. Express archive photo

The Special Investigation Team probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots has identified 49 cases for re-investigation, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

In response to a question, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said the Government has, vide order dated February 12, 2015 constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for investigating/re-investigating the appropriately serious criminal cases which were filed in the National Capital Territory of Delhi in connection with the 1984 riots and have since been closed.

“Out of the 650 cases registered in connection with anti-Sikh riots, 1984 in Delhi, 49 cases have been identified for re-investigation by SIT as on July 29, 2016,” he said.

The Home MInistry had appointed a Special Investigation Team in June to re-open around 186 cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, which had been closed.

In the riots, which broke out in retaliation against the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, more than 3,000 people were killed. As many as 2,733 deaths were in Delhi alone. As many as 587 cases in connection with the 1984 riots were registered by the Delhi Police, of which 241 cases were later closed. Four of these cases, however, were reopened in 2006 and one in 2013, leading to 35 people being convicted in the cases. The remaining cases stayed closed.

Following a recommendation of a committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retd) G P Mathur, the Ministry of Home Affairs had constituted the SIT in February 2015. It was expected to re-open cases which the Delhi Police either did not investigate or simply closed for lack of evidence. This meant that cases involving Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar in which chargesheets were never filed would be reopened and fresh charges could be filed.

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The SIT was set up with an initial term of six months, after which the Home Ministry extended it by a year.

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