The Allahabad High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings in a batch of cases filed against residents of Kanpur in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, holding that the “passage of time and the absence of original records cannot defeat the course of justice in crimes of such magnitude”.
During a hearing on Tuesday (March 24, 2026), a Bench of Justice Anish Kumar Gupta dismissed petitions filed by nine individuals, seeking the quashing of charge sheets and summoning orders in cases dating back to 1984. The court emphasised that a prima facie case existed against the accused based on material gathered during re-investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The High Court observed that the nature of the incidents was “akin to a genocide against a particular community”, in which several innocent persons were killed or set ablaze, and houses and properties were burnt, destroyed, and looted, in the aftermath of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Although First Information Reports (FIRs) were lodged at the time, most cases were closed soon after, with final reports exonerating the accused, the Court noted.
These cases were revived decades later following the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission’s findings. Acting on the Supreme Court’s directions, an SIT was constituted to re-investigate cases where records could be reconstructed. In Uttar Pradesh, 186 cases were identified, including 20 in Kanpur, of which 11 led to fresh charge sheets.
