New Delhi, May 20 (IANS): The Delhi High Court has directed the Tihar Jail authorities to take one of the convicts in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case to ILBS Hospital within three days for medical check up.
Naresh Sehrawat, who is serving sentence for life in the riots case, is slated to undergo kidney and liver transplant.
After hearing both the sides, the court said, "The Jail authority is directed to ensure that the appellant (Sehrawat) is taken to ILBS hospital within next three days for medical check up and treatment."
"The respondents (Jail authorities) are directed to file their status reports on or before 25th May, 2020. The status report shall be emailed to the concerned Court Masters as well as to the petitioner," said a division bench of the High Court presided by Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula.
The directions came while the court was hearing an application filed by Naresh Sherawat seeking interim suspension of sentence for three months on the ground that he needs to undergo liver and kidney transplant simultaneously.
The application states that though Sherawat's appointment with the doctor at ILBS hospital was fixed for March 11, yet he was not taken to the hospital as his transportation was considered highly risky due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The court will now hear the matter on May 26.
The case against Sehrawat and Yashpal Singh was lodged on a complaint filed by Hardev Singh's brother Santokh.
The duo was convicted for murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons. It was the first conviction in the cases reopened by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up in 2015.
On 1 November, 1984, Hardev Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Sangat Singh were at their grocery shops in Mahipalpur when a violent mob of 800 to 1,000 people came towards their shops. The mob was armed with deadly weapons such as iron rods, lathis, hockey sticks, stones, kerosene oil.
They closed their shops and rushed to the rented accommodation of one Surjeet Singh, located on the first floor of a house in the area. After some time, they were joined by Avtar Singh, who also took shelter with them. They locked themselves inside the room.
The mob, "which burned the shops by then", came to Surjeet's room and brutally assaulted everyone. They stabbed Hardev and Sangat and threw all the men from the balcony.
The accused poured kerosene in the room and burnt it down. The injured men were shifted to Safdarjung Hospital where Avatar Singh and Hardev Singh succumbed to their injuries.