A bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi adjourned the matter as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the CBI, was not available.
In July 2024, the apex court asked the CBI to respond to Khokhar’s stay application.
Khokhar’s life sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2018, while it overturned Kumar’s acquittal by a trial court in 2013, in a case related to the murder of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part I area of Palam Colony in southwest Delhi on November 1 and 2, 1984, besides the burning of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar, part II.
In his plea, Khokhar said the prison authorities had rejected his application for leave on September 26, 2024, saying his release would bring adverse repercussions and disrupt peace and tranquility in the society, causing unrest.
He said he applied for bail and had already served a sentence of 8.7 years, but his request was rejected by a court on February 3, 2023.
Large-scale violence and killings of members of the Sikh community took place in the national capital following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards in 1984 and cases arising from this incident saw major twists and turns 40 years later.
