The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined a plea by Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for quashing the charges against him in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined a plea by Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for quashing the charges against him in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

An apex court bench headed by Justice RM Lodha declined the appeal even as senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi told the court that Sajjan Kumar could not be charged under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code as there is no direct allegation of killing against him.

Opposing the plea, senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for the riot victims, said that the rioting in the Sultanpuri area of the national capital was at Sajjan Kumar's behest.

Dave said that it was Sajjan Kumar who provoked and led the rioters following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

IANS