Justice SN Dhingra will head ’1984 riots panel

The Supreme Court on Thursday appointed former Delhi High Court judge Justice SN Dhingra, and two others, on a committee that will look into 186 cases pertaining to the 1984 anti-sikh riots. The cases were closed by the Home Ministry-appointed Special Investigations Team (SIT).

Retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular will complete the three-member committee, which has to submit its report within two months.

Justice Dhingra is known for sentencing Mohammed Afzal Guru to death for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack. He has also questioned land deals done by Robert Vadra and sentenced Kishori Lal, aka the ‘Butcher of Trilokpuri’, in the 1990s. The apex court on Wednesday agreed to constitute a new three-member SIT to monitor a re-investigation in the riot cases that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi. 

A bench asked the Centre to propose names for consideration within a few hours to hasten their appointment in the new SIT. The new committee will include one retired high court judge, one retired police officer not below the rank of a DIG and one serving police officer, the bench said.