Anti-Sikh riots: Delhi court awards life imprisonment to ex-Cong MP Sajjan Kumar

 Wheels of justice have started moving, says BJP

PTI, NEW DELHI, FEB 25, 2025 :  A Delhi court on Tuesday awarded life-term imprisonment to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a murder case connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja pronounced the judgment for the murders of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.

The court, on February 12, convicted Kumar for the offence and sought a report from Tihar Central Jail on his psychiatric and psychological evaluation in view of a Supreme Court order asking for such a report in cases attracting capital punishment. The offence of murder attracts a maximum punishment of the death penalty, while the minimum sentence is life imprisonment.

The complainant, Jaswant's wife, and the prosecution had sought the maximum punishment for Kumar. He is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. Though Punjabi Bagh police station initially registered the case, 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. According to the prosecution, a huge mob, armed with deadly weapons, resorted to large-scale looting, arson, and destruction of properties of Sikhs to avenge the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The mob attacked the house of the complainant, who is Jaswant's wife, killing the men aside from looting articles and setting their house ablaze, the prosecution claimed.

Kumar was put on trial after the court found sufficient material to form a "prima facie opinion" that he was not only a participant but had also led the mob. According to a report of the Nanavati Commission, constituted to probe the violence and its aftermath, there were 587 FIRs filed in Delhi in relation to the riots that saw the killings of 2,733 people. Of the total, about 240 FIRs were closed by police as "untraced," and 250 cases resulted in acquittal. Of the 587 FIRs, only 28 cases resulted in punishments, with about 400 persons being convicted. About 50, including Kumar, were convicted for murder.

Kumar, an influential Congress leader and an MP at the time, was accused in a case over the killings of five persons in Delhi's Palam Colony on November 1 and 2 in 1984. He was awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in the case, and his appeal challenging the punishment is pending before the Supreme Court. Two appeals are pending before the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court against the former Congress MP’s acquittal and life imprisonment, respectively.

Reacting to the court order, the BJP on Tuesday said the "wheels of justice" have started moving and hoped that the other accused would also meet their fate. BJP national spokesperson R P Singh, a Sikh leader, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to ask the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file an appeal before the higher court seeking the death penalty for Kumar.

"While the entire country was expecting a death penalty for Sajjan Kumar, he was awarded life imprisonment only. It was not an ordinary case of murder; it was a genocide of Sikhs carried out at the behest of his leader Rajiv Gandhi," Singh said in a video message.

"I urge Modiji and Amit Shah that they direct the CBI to file an appeal in the higher court seeking the death penalty for Sajjan Kumar," he added.

Commenting on the development, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya wrote on X: "Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, a close aide of Rajiv Gandhi and later Sonia Gandhi, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 1984 Sikh genocide. The wheels of justice have started moving. Several other senior Congress leaders, including one who was in the race to become Congress president, will soon meet their fate. The long arm of the law will catch up," Malviya added.

Newly appointed Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, another Sikh leader of the BJP, expressed satisfaction with the verdict and said Kumar could be punished for his involvement in the case after 35 years due to a special investigation team (SIT) set up by Prime Minister Modi.

"We are relieved now that action is being taken in this case after 35 years... Sajjan Kumar has been awarded life imprisonment in the case... We believe that similar action will be taken against Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath in the coming days," he told reporters.

"The accused (Sajjan Kumar) could be punished after 35 years just because of the SIT set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. My community thanks the government and Modiji (for this)," Sirsa added.