New Delhi, February 12: Delhi Special court on Wednesday convicted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar for his involvement in the killings of two Sikh men in Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984, during the anti-Sikh riots. The court is set to hear arguments on the sentencing on February 18.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the case, alleged that Kumar, who was then the Congress MP for Outer Delhi, led a mob that burned alive Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh. Their homes were also looted and destroyed under his direction, according to the SIT, which was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat.
Kumar’s defense team, comprising advocates Anil Kumar Sharma, Anuj Sharma, and Apoorav Sharma, argued that the testimonies of the victims’ wives and mothers—who claimed to be eyewitnesses—were unreliable due to a seven-year delay in coming forward. The complainants were represented by senior advocate H.S. Phoolka and advocates Kamna Vohra and Gurbaksh Singh.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots erupted after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for ordering a military operation at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984 to flush out militants.
An FIR in the case was registered in 1991, based on a September 9, 1985, affidavit submitted to the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission, which was set up by the Rajiv Gandhi government to investigate the violence and recommend preventive measures.
On December 4, 2021, the Rouse Avenue Court of Special Judge M.K. Nagpal framed charges against Kumar under multiple offences, including murder, rioting with a deadly weapon, unlawful assembly, and attempt to commit culpable homicide.
Kumar is currently serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail after the Delhi High Court convicted him in 2018 for his role in the killing of five Sikhs and the burning of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar, Palam Colony, during the riots.
In September 2023, a Delhi court acquitted him in a case related to the murder of seven Sikhs in Sultanpuri during the riots. However, one case remains pending against him in the Rouse Avenue Court, while two appeals against his acquittals are pending in the High Court, and another appeal against his conviction is before the Supreme Court.
