Lone Sikh ranger withdraws from 1984 riots cases
July 21st, 2010 - 4:00 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) After nearly 26 years of relentless battle for justice to victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, advocate H.S. Phoolka Tuesday withdrew from all cases following allegations that he had been making personal gains.
Phoolka’s decision follows allegation by the president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Paramjit Singh Sarna that the advocate had “wasted” the money in the course of the campaign.
“I felt humiliated and abused. It was an attack on my integrity and record of selfless service,” Phoolka, 54, told IANS.
The decision to pull out of the riots cases comes only two days after he appeared in the Delhi High Court which upheld the murder charge against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar.
Sarna had made the allegations against Phoolka at a meeting July 17 in which several prominent Sikhs were present.
Phoolka said he would represent the families of the victims in court “today only”.
Sarna said that when Phoolka appeared before the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission — set up to investigate the riots — on behalf of the victims during 2000-04, the DSGMC had spent Rs.1.09 crore on the administrative expenses incurred by his team.
Phoolka said it was only after the Nanavati probe that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had apologized for the carnage, the compensation for the families of dead victims was enhanced to Rs.10 lakh, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler resigned from the union cabinet and the cases that Sajjan Kumar is currently facing were reopened.
“I have never charged a penny as fee,” he said, while pointing to the legal assistance offered to families of the riot victims.
“Whatever the DSGMC has spent was unavoidable and not for my personal gains,” he said.
Phoolka has written to the Akal Takht, the highest decision-making body of Sikhs in Amritsar, to make alternative arrangements for representing victims before courts.
The advocate has himself been a victim of the mayhem when bloodthirsty mobs ruled Delhi’s streets for three days following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.
A budding lawyer then, Phoolka and his four-month pregnant wife Maninder were chased by mobs before an army convoy took them to a safe place.
- Anti-Sikh riots: Phoolka offers to quit legal battle (Lead) - Jul 21, 2010
- 1984 riots: Akal Takht stands behind Phoolka - Jul 22, 2010
- Anti-Sikh riots: Phoolka offers to quit legal battle (Second Lead) - Jul 21, 2010
- Akal Takht summons Sarna over his remarks against Phoolka - Jul 21, 2010
- Sarnas appear before Akal Takht, panel set up on Phoolka charges - Aug 08, 2010
- 1984 anti-Sikh riots affected take out protest march in Amritsar - Aug 07, 2010
- 1984 riots case against Sajjan: Final arguments from March 16 - Feb 13, 2012
- 1984 riots: Sajjan Kumar's plea dismissed - Jun 02, 2012
- Sajjan claims right to confront witness with proof - May 23, 2012
- Sikhs feel offended, as Sajjan Kumar gets bail in 1984-anti Sikh riots case - Mar 10, 2010
- Sajjan Kumar accuses CBI of playing fraud - May 19, 2012
- Lone Sikh ranger still beavers away (25 years after Indira Gandhi's assassination) - Oct 30, 2009
- Sajjan Kumar seeks documents from CBI in riots case - Apr 05, 2010
- 1984 riots: Court rejects Sajjan Kumar's plea (Lead) - Jun 02, 2012
- 1984 anti-Sikh riots: Hearing against Sajjan from March 27 - Mar 20, 2010
Tags: akal takht, alternative arrangements, anti sikh riots, congress leader, delhi high court, delhi sikh gurdwara management, dsgmc, jagdish tytler, kumar sarna, manmohan singh, nanavati commission, paramjit singh, personal gains, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, relentless battle, sajjan kumar, selfless service, sikh gurdwara management committee, union cabinet