Sardar Inder Singh Grover and his wife Prakash Kaur came to the capital as refugees in 1947. After years of struggle he managed to set up two crockery shops in the city.
But 1984 saw the two shops being looted in the anti-Sikh riots and occupied. The occupants, alleged Grover, threatened to kill them if they returned to the shop Azad Market near Bara Hindu Rao. This did not deter the now 72-year-old-Inder Grover. After twenty years of fighting to get justice, the nine accused in the case were finally sentenced to three years imprisonment on Thursday last by a sessions court.
After running from pillar to post, it was on the recommendation of the Jain-Aggarwal Committee that an FIR was lodged in 1993 and the trial started. What kept the couple going through all these years, says Singh, was their attitude: ‘‘We have never accepted defeat in any situation.’’
Tired of the court hearings, lawyers fees and constant worry, ‘‘even our sons started discouraging us,’’ Kaur said. ‘‘It was almost as if I had returned to those back- breaking days after Partition,’’ said Grover. Working through his studies, Grover has driven a TSR, and was a bus conductor. He became a government clerk and retired as a private secretary in South Block.
The court directed that the two shops which have been occupied by the accused for all these years, be returned to the couple. Despite this, the couple said: ‘‘Although we are happy with the court decision, it is unlikely that we shall be going back there.’’ They say they have still been receiving threats from the locals there.
The T-56 and T-57 shops in Tokariwalan have been attracting a lot of attention ever since the court verdict was announced. ASJ S.N. Dhingra directed the police to remove the occupants, —— the families of Bhagwan Dass family and Uday Ram —— within 15 days.
Bhangwan Dass, a retired employee in an Okhla factory, alleged that it was ‘‘due to enmity’’ that he and his family were implicated in the case. Dass said he was in his factory on the days the alleged incident is said to have taken place. Uday Ram, who alleges he is the ‘‘owner’’ of T-57, now a tokri shop, denies that the two shops ever belonged to Grover. ‘‘Since 1967 we have been occupying these shops and Singh never owned them.’’ Dass and Ram’s family are in the process of filing an appeal.
DCP North Rajesh Khurana, in the meanwhile, says police have not received any copy of the judgement as yet. ‘‘Once we get the judgement we will act accordingly,’’ says Khurana.