Clarion India
NEW DELHI — A Delhi court on Wednesday convicted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the murders of two persons in Saraswati Vihar area during the anti-Sikh riots. This is his second conviction with respect to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as he faces two more cases.
Special judge Kaveri Baweja passed the conviction order and posted the arguments on sentence on Feburary 18. The case attracts a maximum punishment of the death penalty and life-term imprisonment as the minimum sentence.
The former parliamentarian KSAjjan umar was produced before court from Tihar jail for the pronouncement.
The case relates to the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.
Though Punjabi Bagh police station registered the case initially, 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, Jaswant’s wife, killing her husband and son apart from looting articles and setting their house ablaze, alleged the prosecution.
Putting Kumar on trial, the court order found sufficient material to form a “prima facie opinion that he was not only a participant, but had also led the mob”.
Sajjan Kumar was awarded life imprisonment by the high court in a case over the killings of five Sikhs in the Raj Nagar Part-I area in Palam Colony of southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and the burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part-II. His appeal against the conviction is pending in the Supreme Court. — With inputs from PTI
