1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case: Court Acquits Sajjan Kumar

1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case: Court Acquits Sajjan Kumar

HT

New Delhi : Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case related to inciting violence in Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas in the capital during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The order was pronounced by Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh of Rouse Avenue Court. The judge orally pronounced before the court that accused, Sajjan Kumar, stands acquitted.

In February 2015, a special investigation team (SIT) constituted to investigate the riots cases registered two cases against Kumar on the basis of complaints of violence in Janakpuri and Vikaspuri.

The FIR lodged in Janakpuri pertains to the November 1, 1984, killing of two men — Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh. The second FIR was lodged in the case of one Gurcharan Singh, who was allegedly set ablaze by a mob on November 2, 1984.

While a Delhi court, in August 2023, dropped charges of murder and criminal conspiracy in both the cases, it charged Kumar with the offences of rioting and promoting enmity between different communities.

During the trial, Kumar, represented by advocates Anil Kumar Sharma and Anuj Sharma, said that there was no evidence against him since he was not present at the incident sites. His counsels further argued that Kumar was belatedly named by witnesses because he was an MP.

Meanwhile, the prosecution, led by additional public prosecutor Manish Rawat, claimed that Kumar was an active participant and member of the unlawful assembly consisting of hundreds of people carrying deadly weapons with the intention to kill Sikhs and destroy their properties.

In February last year, the former parliamentarian was sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of two men, Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh, during the violence in the Saraswati Vihar area.

The 1984 riots erupted in the wake of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, and led to the killing of at least 2,800 people in the national capital alone.

Kumar is currently lodged in Tihar jail where he is also serving a life sentence handed down to him by the Delhi High Court in 2018 in connection with the killing of five Sikhs in Palam Colony during the riots.