Phoolka accused of cheating riot victims

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 18

Gurcharan Singh Babbar, president of the All India Sikh Conference (AISC), has submitted a written complaint against senior advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka, who is fighting cases for the widows of 1984 Sikh riots, to Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik.

The AISC chief said in the complaint that in 1984 along with a battery of lawyers Phoolka had submitted an affidavit on behalf of the widows to the Justice Ranganath Misra Commission. He alleged that since most of the widows were uneducated Phoolka chose to draft the affidavit in English and got their thumb impressions. “The same document was submitted to the commission. He thus cheated them,” he added.

“In the affidavit, Phoolka didn’t mention the name of Congress leaders who were involved in the riots,” the complaint reads, while questioning that why names of then Union Home Secretary MMK Wali, Delhi Lt Governor PG Gawai, Delhi Commissioner of Police Subash Tandon and other senior police officials were not mentioned.

Babbar also alleged that when the widows were called by the Commission, the statements the widows gave were different from the affidavit.

HS Phoolka, AAP MLA, has strongly reacted to the complaint made against him saying that such complaints were frivolous. “These allegations have been doing the rounds as diversionary tactics since I started fighting the anti-riots case. Supporters of accused leaders have been making such baseless allegations,” he said.