Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar sentenced to life imprisonment in this case

New Delhi: Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court has sentenced former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, convicted in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, to life imprisonment. The court had reserved the decision on the sentence on February 21. The victim’s side had demanded death penalty for Sajjan Kumar. Sajjan was convicted on February 12 and a report was sought from the Tihar Central Jail officials on his mental and psychological evaluation as the Supreme Court had sought such a report in cases involving death penalty. The minimum punishment for murder is life imprisonment, while the maximum punishment is death penalty.

The case is related to the murder of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar during the riots. During this time, Sajjan was a Congress MP from Outer Delhi Lok Sabha seat. He is lodged in Tihar Jail in another case related to the riots and is serving life imprisonment.

The complainant in the case had lost her husband and son in a mob attack instigated by Sajjan Kumar during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The complainant had demanded death penalty. Complainant’s lawyer HS Phoolka says that the accused, as the leader of the mob, instigated others to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and brutal murders. He deserves nothing less than the death penalty.

Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh were killed on 1 November 1984. HS Phoolka says that Sajjan Kumar has already been convicted by the Delhi High Court for five murders in another case related to the riots in Raj Nagar area of ​​​​Delhi Cantonment and these murders were part of a wider massacre along with the murders in this case.

The Nanavati Commission, formed to investigate the violence and subsequent events, said that 587 FIRs were registered in Delhi in connection with the riots, which led to the death of 2,733 people. Of these, 240 cases were closed as “unknown” and 250 cases resulted in acquittals.

Only 28 cases resulted in convictions, with nearly 400 people convicted, of whom 50 were convicted for murder. Sajjan Kumar, a powerful Congress leader and MP at the time, was also accused of killing five people in Delhi’s Palam Colony on November 1 and 2, 1984. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in that case and his appeal is still pending in the Supreme Court.