Why it is in news?

• In a relief to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, the Supreme Court decided to set up its own three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe 186 cases not investigated further by the Union government's SIT.
• A Bench of SC said the three-member SIT would be headed by a former High Court judge and have a former IPS officer not below or who is equivalent to the rank of an IG and a serving IPS officer, all available in Delhi.
• The decision to form a new SIT was based on a confidential report placed on record on December 11, 2017 by an apex court-appointed supervisory committee of former Supreme Court judges, Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.M. Panchal.
• This committee was tasked with vetting the investigation into 241 anti-Sikh riots cases closed by the government's SIT. These 186 cases are a part of those cases
• On August 16 last year, the court decided to independently examine the investigation records of the 241 cases and confirm that there was nothing more to do on them

Death of 3,325 people

• A total of 3,325 people were killed in the 1984 riots.
• Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths, while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other States.
• The government SIT was set up on February 12, 2015, following a recommendation by the Justice (retd.) G.P. Mathur committee.
• It was headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch and comprised retired district and sessions judge Rakesh Kapoor and additional deputy commissioner of Delhi Police Kumar Gyanesh.
• The Centre had told the court that out of a total 293 cases investigated by the SIT, closure reports were filed for 241 cases.

Source

The Hindu