New Delhi, April 24 -- Over 40 years after allegations of dereliction of duty during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots led to his demotion, the Supreme Court on Wednesday restored the rank of a former Delhi Police assistant commissioner and ordered that he be given all consequential retirement benefits. The court held that punishing personnel long after the fact, based on what could have been done differently with hindsight, would amount to "grave injustice."
The apex court was deciding the case of one Durga Prasad, who was serving as station house officer (SHO) of Kingsway Camp police station when riots broke out in Delhi after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Prasad was accused of negligence and failure to control the rioting i...