Do you know or remember this case - Kehar Singh & Ors vs State (Delhi Admn.) decided by Apex Court on 3 August, 1988 pertaining to a tragic event that shook the Nation, this day, 37 years ago !! it was a legal battle even when it was seemingly an open-and-shut case, it soon became obvious that every rule in the book would be explored by both sides, and unprecedented arguments and procedures used where necessary. All of 73 witnesses deposed for the prosecution during the 110 hearings spread over 247 days. The defence could only muster three witnesses. Nor did witnesses have an easy time. Every point was contested and every bit of evidence subjected to the minutest scrutiny.
To many of Cricket fans – it would be a news that Mohinder Amarnath, the gritty batsman allrounder, Vice-captain of famous World Cup 1983, did captain India in an ODI. That was ODI no. 273 – 2nd ODI against Pakistan at Sialkot. It was not exactly bonhomie. After the first Test in Lahore, which the home side had dominated, Gavaskar lashed out at the officiating, saying, "despite the best efforts of the Pakistan umpires to favour the home team, we have managed to draw the Test and that is a miracle. Before embarking upon the tour of Pakistan we expected close decisions, but what happened in the Lahore Test was pre-planned and predetermined." At Sialkot at Jinnah Stadium, Indian Captain Mohinder Amarnath won the toss - Gavaskar sat the game out with an injury - and decided to bat. India was 210/3 after 40 overs ~ a good score those days .. Anshuman Gaekwad and Ghulam Parkar failed; Sandip Patil made 59; Dilip Vengsarkar was all set to make his maiden century at 94 but came the unusual stoppage.
I
was too young .. .. yet Triplicanites could make me understand the electoral
politics. Clearly there was a wave ~ in houses the elder generation was for
Congress, the youth wre for the newly created Janata party .. .. and in 1977 – newspapers screamed in
bold letters [was that half page !!]
‘Indira
defeated’
~
nothing else mattered. The man who
defeated her in 1977 Lok Sabha elections was Raj Narain, a freedom fighter and
politician who had won a famous electoral malpractice case against the then PM
Mrs Indira Gandhi that led to her disqualification and subsequent imposition of
Emergency in India in 1975 !!
Pic credit : Twitter
In October 1984, TN Chief Minister MG Ramachandran was diagnosed with kidney failure, which was further complicated by diabetes, a mild heart attack and a massive stroke. MGR did survive all that and died much later in Dec 1987. After days of treatment in Apollo [when Greames Road reportedly was not allowed for commoners ~ huge crowds thronged the Road to get nearer MGR, anxious of his health], on the night of 5th Nov 1984, MGR left for New York. The then PM Ms Indira Gandhi visited MGR at hospital on 16/10/84. She was hale and healthy ! Earlier in Oct 1984, N.T. Rama Rao's visit to New Delhi led to wild rumours. Four days after his wife's death due to cancer, he came from Hyderabad in the morning, met President Zail Singh and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by appointment. He saw no opposition leaders and made no attacks on Mrs Gandhi. After a "tame" press conference, he flew back home. This led to speculation that he may have struck a secret deal with Mrs Gandhi, that he would show no more interest in getting the Opposition parties together to light her in the coming general elections. In turn, she will let him rule Andhra Pradesh undisturbed.
You may or may not like her – but certainly would feel very anguished by the way she was eliminated. Indira Gandhi, charismatic ‘Iron Lady’ of India, was assassinated on the morning of October, 31, 1984.
She was the Prime Minister of India on that bloody day too. The assassination was carried out by her ‘Sikh Bodyguards’ Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. The assassination was reportedly the aftermath of the ‘Operation Blue Star’ carried out by the Indian Army at her behest. The Indian Army’s June 1984 assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar left the Sikh temple heavily damaged. Hundreds of people lost their lives and this included both the militants and the Army. However, what followed the assassination was brutal, the recuperations were massive. For the next four days, the country was engulfed in the fire of riots. The country’s capital bore the most of its brunt.
The only daughter of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi was destined for politics. First appointed prime minister in 1966, she garnered widespread public support for agricultural improvements that led to India’s self-sufficiency in food grain production as well as for her success in the Pakistan war, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. After serving three terms, Gandhi was voted out of office for her increasingly authoritarian policies, including a 21-month state of emergency in which Indians’ constitutional rights were restricted. In 1980, however, she was reelected to a fourth term.
The match at Sialkot, captained by Mohinder and Vengsarkar stranded at 94 was played on that fateful day – and as the news of assassination reached, the match was abandoned, in fact the tour too was called off. Read in newspapers that the announcement was made with riot police on high alert, not knowing what the crowd's reaction might be ! but, sadly, to the utter disbelief, it was reported that people started clapping and went away peacefully. Indira Gandhi was deeply unpopular in Pakistan, as she had was the popular Indian PM when Bangladesh was born and Pak defeated in 1971 war.
The case cited at the beginning was ‘Indira assassination case’ - prosecution case against Kehar Singh was that he was a religious fanatic, had intense hate against Smt. Indira Gandhi for causing damage to the Akal Takhat in Golden Temple, Amritsar by "Operation Blue Star." He was in a position to influence Beant Singh, being the uncle of Beant Singh's wife called as `Poopha'. He converted Beant Singh and through him Satwant Singh to religious bigotry. It was alleged that Balbir Singh, like other accused had expressed his resentment openly, holding Smt. Indira Gandhi responsible for the "Operation Blue Star". He was planning to commit her murder and had discussed his plans with Beant Singh (deceased) who had similar plans to commit the heinous murder. He also shared his intention and prompted accused Satwant Singh to commit the gruesome assassination, finally discussed the matter with him on 30.10.1984. In the first week of September 1984, when a falcon (Bazz) happen to sit on a tree near the main reception of the Prime Minister's House st about 1.30 P.M. Balbir Singh spotted the falcon, called Beant Singh there and pointed out the falcon. Both of them agreed that it had brought a message of the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs and that they should do something by way of revenge of the "Operation Blue Star".
The trial Judge awarded the sentence of death on all the three accused. The trial Judge also awarded other terms of imprisonment on Satwant Singh. Two appeals were filed in the High Court; One by Satwant Singh and the other by Balbir Singh and Kehar Singh jointly, challenging their conviction and sentence. These appeals were heard alone with the Murder Reference No. 2 of 1986. The High Court accepted the Murder Reference and dismissed the appeals preferred by the accused and confirmed the conviction and the sentence of death on all the accused. The High Court also confirmed the other sentence on Satwant Singh.
Supreme Court however, dismissed the appeals of Kehar Singh and Satwant Singh, but allowed the appeal of Balbir Singh by setting aside his conviction and sentence, and acquitting him of all the charges. In 1989, the two condemned men, Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, having exhausted all remaining legal avenues and appeals for clemency were hanged to death.
You may or may not like her; you may or may not admire Emergency
days – but Oct 31, 1984 evokes strong memory of the
gruesome assassination of Indira Gandhi, charismatic ‘Iron Lady’ of India !
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
31.10.2021.
Very nice.
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