Delhi Court sentences ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar to life for 1984 anti-Sikh riots

New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Tuesday awarded a life sentence to the accused Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to killing the father-son duo in the Saraswati Vihar area during the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. This comes after the former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar was convicted on February 12 for killing the father-son duo. Special judge Kaveri Baweja sentenced Sajjan Kumar for the offence of murder (302) read with unlawful assembly (149) IPC. He has also been sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence of Destruction of property with fire (436) read with Unlawful Assembly (149) IPC. He has been also sentenced for the other offences he was convicted for. The Rouse Avenue court on February 21 reserved an order on sentence to be awarded to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots case.

Riot victims had sought capital punishment for Sajjan Kumar. Kumar is already serving a life sentence following his 2018 conviction by the Delhi High Court in a separate case related to the anti-Sikh riots. The senior counsel H S Phoolka appeared online for the 1984 riots victim submitted his written submissions and sought capital punishment. On February 17, the Prosecution argued and sought the Death penalty for Sajjan Kumar. Additional Public prosecutor (APP) Manish Rawat had filed written submissions. He pressed for the Death penalty given the guidelines in Nirbhaya and other cases. Manish Rawat submitted that this case was the rarest of rare cases. In this case, people from a community were targeted without any provocation. It was also submitted that the incident broke the entire fibre of trust and harmony among the communities thereby severely affecting the knitting and assimilation of different religious and social groups.

On January 31, the court had reserved the order after hearing additional submissions by the Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat. This case is related to the killings of one Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in the Saraswati Vihar area on November 1, 1984. Advocate Anil Sharma had submitted that Sajjan Kumar's name was not there from the very beginning, and that the law of foreign land is not applicable in this case and there was a delay of 16 years in naming Sajjan Kumar by the witness.

It was also submitted that a case in which Sajjan Kumar was Convicted by the Delhi High Court is pending appeal before the Supreme Court. Advocate Anil Sharma had also referred to the case cited by the senior advocate H S Phoolka. He submitted that the law of the land will prevail even in the extraordinary situation and not international law. Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat in his rebuttal had submitted that the accused was not known to the victim. When she became aware of who is Sajjan Kumar she named him in her statement. Earlier, Senior advocate H S Phoolka had appeared for riot victims and had argued that the police investigations were manipulated in the Sikh riots cases. Police investigation was tardy and to save the accused. It was argued that during riots situation was extraordinary. Therefore, these cases have to be dealt with in this context. During the arguments senior advocate H S Phoolka referred to a judgement of the Delhi High Court and submitted that It is not an isolated case, it was a part of a bigger massacre, it is a part of genocide. It was further argued that as per official figures, 2700 Sikhs were killed in Delhi in 1984. It was an ordinary situation.

Senior Advocate Phoolka had referred to the Delhi High Court judgement in the 1984 Delhi cantt case wherein the court called the riots a Crime against humanity. It was also said that the objective of genocide is always targeting of minorities. There is a delay. Supreme court took it seriously that there was delay and a SIT was constituted, he argued. The senior advocate had also referred to the judgement delivered by foreign courts in the cases of genocide and crime against humanity. He also referred tothe  Geneva Convention. It was also submitted that a charge sheet was prepared against Sajjan Kumar in 1992 but was not filed in the court. It shows that the police were trying to save Sajjan Kumar. On November 1, 2023, the court had recorded the statement of Sajjan Kumar. He had denied all the charges levelled against him. Initially, an FIR was registered at Punjabi Bagh police station. Later on, this case was investigated by the Special Investigation Team constituted on the recommendation of Justice G P Mathur's committee and filed a charge sheet. The committee had recommended the reopening of 114 cases. This case was one of them. On December 16, 2021, the court framed charges against the accused Sajjan Kumar for the commission of the offences punishable Under Section 147/148/149 IPC as well as the offences punishable Under sections 302/308/ 323/395/397/427/436/440 read with Section 149 IPC.

It has been alleged by the SIT that the accused was leading the said mob and upon his instigation and abetment, the mob had burnt alive the above two persons and had also damaged, destroyed and looted their household articles and other property, burnt their house and also inflicted severe injuries on the person of their family members and relatives residing in their house. It is claimed that during the investigation, material witnesses of the case were traced out and examined and their statements were recorded under section 161 Cr.P.C. The statements of the complainant under the above provision were recorded on 23.11.2016 during this further investigation, in which she again narrated the above incident of looting, arson and murders of her husband and son by the mob armed with deadly weapons and she is also claimed to have deposed therein about the injuries suffered by her and the other victims of the case, including her sister in law who is stated to have subsequently expired. She had also clarified, interalia, in that statement that the photograph of the accused was seen by her in a magazine after around one and half months. The 1984 riots erupted following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, leading to the killing of at least 2,800 people in the national capital alone.