Convict in 1984 anti-Sikh riots assaulted by BJP MLA on court premises
New Delhi, Nov 15: One of the convicts in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case was Thursday assaulted by BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa in Patiala House Courts moments after a court reserved its order on the quantum of punishment to be awarded to two persons for killing two men.
The convicts were being taken by policemen to the lock up on the premises where Tihar or other jail inmates are kept when they are brought for court hearings.
Sirsa and his supporters, who claimed to have come in the solidarity with the victims of the riots and their families, had gathered around the courtroom and while both the convicts -- Naresh Sherawat and Yashpal Singh -- were taken out after the court hearing, the BJP leader barged into the police ring around the duo and slapped Yashpal.
The police personnel were quick to separate the convicts from Sirsa and his supporters. However, both the sides hurled abuses at each other.
Thereafter, more police personnel were called in and the convicts were taken to the lock up in their presence.
Sirsa filed a complaint at the Tilak Marg police station alleging some "unknown persons(hooligans) abused" Sikhs and threatened him.
"It's been 34 years. Sikhs await justice. Goons of @INCIndia rub salts on our injuries and threaten us of repeating #1984SikhGenocide. We will not tolerate injustice anymore. I have filed a criminal complaint against the goon elements present in Delhi Patiala Court today(sic)," he tweeted later.
Senior advocate H S Phoolka, who appeared for the victims, condemned the incident, saying "these kinds of incidents are likely to adversely affect the case of the victim. Everyone should control their emotions and maintain peace within the court premises".
Both the convicts were taken into the custody on Wednesday after the Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey held them guilty of killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh in Mahipalpur area of South Delhi during the riots.
The court Thursday heard the arguments on the quantum of the punishment for both the convicts and reserved its order for November 20.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to record low of 90.87 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee plunged 9 paise to a record low of 90.87 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, weighed down by sustained FII outflows and no breakthrough in the India-US trade deal.
However, a weaker greenback and a decline in global crude oil prices capped further losses in the domestic unit, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at its all-time low of 90.87 against the US dollar, down 9 paise from its previous close, and traded in a narrow range of 90.77- 90.87 in early trade.
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The rupee on Monday settled at a new all-time low of 90.78 against the US dollar, registering a loss of 29 paise over its previous close, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
"The US-India trade deal still seems to be off by a distance with the Commerce Secretary saying the first phase will be signed before the end of the year and news that we are closest to the deal being signed. The uncertainty has clouded the recovery on the USD/INR pair as the rupee opened lower with dollar buying happening every day," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Even a reduction in trade deficit on Monday could not bring about a recovery in the rupee with Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) outflows continuing, he added
According to the latest government data released on Monday, India's trade deficit narrowed to a five-month low of USD 24.53 billion in November, as exports rebounded by 19.37 per cent to a six-month high of USD 38.13 billion after contracting in October, driven by higher shipments of engineering and electronics goods.
At the same time, the country's imports dipped by 1.88 per cent to USD 62.66 billion due to a fall in the inbound shipments of gold, crude oil, coal, and coke.
FIIs sold equities worth Rs 1,468.32 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Also, wholesale price inflation stayed in the negative for the second consecutive month in November at (-) 0.32 per cent, even though there was an uptick in prices of food articles like pulses and vegetables on a month-on-month basis, government data showed on Monday.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was at (-) 1.21 per cent in October and 2.16 per cent in November last year.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at 98.27.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.61 per cent lower at USD 60.19 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index, Sensex, declined 363.92 points to 84,849.44 in early trade while the Nifty was down 106.65 points to 25,920.65.
