The Rouse Avenue court on February 12 convicted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 Anti-Sikh riots case linked to the killing of a father-son duo in the Saraswati Vihar area on November 1, 1984. Special judge Kaveri Baweja passed the conviction order. The matter has been listed for arguments on sentence on February 18.
Sajjan Kumar is currently serving a life sentence in another anti-Sikh riots case in Delhi Cantt. He was produced before the court from Tihar jail to pronounce the verdict. He was convicted for the murder of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.
Though the Punjabi Bagh police station registered the case initially, a special investigation team later took over the investigation. On December 16, 2021, the court framed charges against Kumar, finding a “prima facie” case against him.
The prosecution says an armed mob resorted to large-scale looting, arson and destruction of properties of Sikhs to avenge the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The mob killed Singh and his son and looted their house. They later set the house ablaze.
The court order said that Kumar not only participated in the mob but led it. The court order found sufficient material to form a “prima facie opinion that he was not only a participant but had also led the mob”.
Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee’s (DSGMC) general secretary Jagdip Singh Kahlon welcomed the court’s verdict. “Sajjan Kumar, who was leading the Sikh massacre 40 years ago, has been convicted and he would be punished… I thank the court for this… I thank PM Modi and HM Amit Shah for forming an SIT after coming to power. This is the result of reinvestigating the closed cases… We hope to get justice in the Jagdish Tytler case also,” he said.
Who is Sajjan Kumar?
Sajjan Kumar is a former Congress MP who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the 1984 Sikh riots case in 2018. First elected to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 1977, he was sworn in as the Delhi Councillor the same year. An active politician from Delhi, he went on to win the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Outer Delhi.
On November 1, 1984, Sajjan Kumar, according to witnesses, had incited mobs to attack the Sikh community to avenge the assassination of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi of Congress, who was shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards a day earlier.
After the Narendra Modi-led Government came to power in 2014, it set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reinvestigate the cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The verdict is a significant milestone in the decades-long pursuit of justice for the victims of the anti-Sikh riots.
