Allahabad HC upholds life term to cop for killing 5 Sikhs in 1984

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday upheld the life sentence awarded to a constable for killing five Sikhs at a police station in the aftermath of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.

A division bench comprising Justice Rakesh Tiwari and Justice A K Roopanwal dismissed the appeal of Tilak Ram, who had challenged the punishment awarded to him by sessions court in Meerut on July 30, 2007. He had claimed that he was of unsound mind at the time of the incident.

Ram had opened fire on a group of Sikhs who had gathered at Badaut police station (now in Baghpat district) in the early hours of Nov 5, 1984 and had even threatened fellow police personnel when they tried to stop him from doing so.

In his appeal, Ram had pleaded that he was of unsound mind at the time of the incident and was incapable of knowing the nature of his act and hence incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong.

The court, however, dismissed his plea saying it was "not a schizophrenic act" but "an instance of Sikh killing, the like of which had happened and was happening at that time because of assassination of Indira Gandhi".

PTI

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