The Supreme Court on Friday, 3 September, refused to grant interim bail to former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on medical grounds, reports said.
The court observed that his medical condition was stable and improving.
"He is accused of heinous crimes. You want him to be treated like some super VIP patient," said Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, who was on the bench along with Justice MM Sundresh.
The plea asking for him to be transferred to Medanta Hospital was also dismissed by the apex court, which was quoted as saying, "We are not passing any orders. If medical authorities consider it necessary for further treatment or examination at Medanta, they may do so."
Bail Plea Rejected Earlier Too
In September last year, too, the apex court had refused to grant bail to the former Congress leader after the latter filed a plea on medical grounds.
“This isn’t a small case. We cannot grant bail,” a bench of then Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian were quoted as saying at the time.
The case in which Kumar was convicted and sentenced relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar Part-I area of southwest Delhi on 1-2 November in 1984, and burning down of a gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part-II, according to news agency PTI.
The offences for which he was convicted included criminal conspiracy, abetment in commission of crimes of murder, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of communal harmony.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and Bar and Bench.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)