On 25 Jul, the Supreme Court on India (SCI) asked the Allahabad High Court to expeditiously decide the appeals in the 1984 Sikh genocide cases. The court order came on a public interest litigation filed by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee that complained about the slow progress of cases in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and sought the court’s intervention to expedite the appeals pending before the High Court seeking re-investigation. The UP government informed the SCI that the Central Forensic Science Laboratory has not been able to decipher the contents of an illegible First Information Report (FIR) registered at Kanpur. The FIR is part of the nine FIRs being investigated by the Special Investigation Team after 35 years. Separately, on 22 Jul, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa moved the Delhi High Court for placing on record former Assistant Commissioner Police Gautam Kaul's report mentioning the presence of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Indian National Congress’ (INC) Kamal Nath during the violence at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib on 1 Nov 1984 which claimed the lives of Inderjeet Singh and Manmohan Singh. In a positive development in Varanasi, a dispute over ownership of a 35K sq ft land has been resolved. The land was sealed in the aftermath of the 1984 Sikh genocide. Members from both the Hindu and Sikh communities celebrated by distributing sweets and garlanding each other. Meanwhile, on 25 Jul, raising concerns over rising drug menace in the state, Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla expressed dissatisfaction over lack of govt rehabilitation centers while questioning political will to fight the menace. Shukla warned that if prompt action is not taken, the state could become Udta Punjab—a reference to a 2016 Hindi movie on drug addiction in Panjab. On the same day, while speaking outside Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session, the Mandi Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut said, 'Drugs coming to Himachal Pradesh from Pakistan via Punjab is affecting youth and families in the state.' Both the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the opposition INC in Panjab have objected to the comments (earlier coverage).
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