The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and Delhi Police to respond to a plea by Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa seeking the production of a police officer’s report that allegedly mentioned former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s presence during the 1984 violence at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja issued notice on Sirsa’s application and directed the authorities to file their replies by January 15, 2026, the next date of hearing.
Sirsa has applied for a direction to place on record a report allegedly submitted in 1984 by Gautam Kaul, then Additional Commissioner of Police, to the then police commissioner. According to him, the report “categorically” noted Nath’s presence at the scene of the violence at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib.
Senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for Sirsa, told the court that multiple newspaper reports and police records from that period had mentioned Nath’s presence, but this material was missing from the government’s status report.
The application forms part of Sirsa’s main petition filed in 2022, in which he has sought action against Nath for his alleged role in the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Sirsa has asked the court to direct the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to arrest Nath and act on an FIR lodged in 1984 at Parliament Street police station. The FIR named five accused who were allegedly sheltered at Nath’s residence. All five were later discharged for lack of evidence. Nath was never named in the FIR and has consistently denied the allegations.
The petition pertains to the storming of Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib by a mob in 1984, in which two Sikhs — Inderjeet Singh and Manmohan Singh — were burnt alive. Sirsa claims the mob was “allegedly led by Nath”.
In September 2019, the SIT had decided to reopen seven riot-related cases where trials had been closed or accused acquitted. After the move was made public, Sirsa claimed that Nath had sheltered five people accused in one of these cases.
Sirsa also said that two witnesses were expected to appear before the SIT to depose on Nath’s alleged role.
In January 2022, the High Court had directed the SIT to file a status report on Sirsa’s petition. Tuesday’s hearing focused on his fresh request to bring the alleged Gautam Kaul report on record.
The matter will now be heard in January 2026 after the Centre and police file their replies.
