A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment for his involvement in the killing of two men during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the Saraswati Vihar area.
Kumar was convicted on February 12 by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court for the murder of Jaswant Singh and his son, Tarundeep Singh.
The court had reserved its verdict on January 31 after hearing additional submissions from Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat.
Advocate Anil Sharma, representing Kumar, argued that his client’s name had not surfaced initially and there was a 16-year delay in identifying him as an accused. Additionally, a separate case in which Kumar was convicted by the Delhi High Court is currently pending appeal before the Supreme Court.
Senior advocate H.S. Phoolka, representing the victims, argued that police investigations into the Sikh riot cases were manipulated to protect the accused. Phoolka said that the 1984 riots were extraordinary circumstances requiring a broader context in legal proceedings. He also referenced the Delhi High Court’s earlier judgement, which labeled the riots a “crime against humanity” and noted that over 2,700 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone.
Initially, the case was registered at Punjabi Bagh police station but was later handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) established on the recommendation of the Justice G.P. Mathur Committee, which had called for reopening 114 cases, including this one.
(With IANS inputs)
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