Former Congress leader and MP Sajjan Kumar has been awarded life imprisonment by a special court in a murder case in connection with the 1984 Sikh riots. He was convicted by the court on February 12 for the offence. Following which, a report was sought from the authorities of Tihar Central Jail on his psychiatric and psychological evaluation in view of the Supreme court order asking for a report like this in cases attracting capital punishment.
The complainant who filed the case is a woman who had lost her husband Jaswant Singh and son Tarundeep Singh during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which were allegedly stirred up by Sajjan Kumar. She had demanded a maximum penalty death for him. For murder in India, the minimum punishment is life imprisonment, whereas the maximum is death.
The anti-Sikh riots were led after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. She was shot by her own bodyguards who were Sikhs, Beant Singh and Saswant Singh. The assassination followed after the Operation Blue Star, that was carried the same year in June to remove Sikh militants, including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who were seeking refuge in the Golden temple, the sacred shrine of Sikhs in Punjab, Amritsar.
Senior advocate HS Phoolka representing the complainant quoted in his argument, reported by news agency PTI, “The accused, as the leader of the mob, incited others to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, and cold blooded murders. He deserves nothing less than a death penalty.”
The prosecution also highlighted that the accused Sajjan Kumar was also convicted by the Delhi High Court for five murders in a case related to riots in Delhi cantonment’s Raj Nagar area. He said that these murders along with the ones in this particular case were nothing but part of a ‘broader genocide.’
HS Phoolka had further stated that the mob that killed the two men was led by Sajjan Kumar, and anyone who led and instigated such killings shall be given a severe punishment. He said that Kumar was given a life sentence by the Delhi High court in the Raj Nagar case, now he should be given a death sentence.
He alleged that a large mob with weapons, carried out loot, arson and destruction of the Sikh property after the assassination of PM Indira Gandhi. Prosecution said that they targeted the complainant’s house, killing her husband and son, looting and setting their property on fire.
The Nanavati commission was established in order to investigate the erupted violence and its aftermath. It reported that as many as 587 FIRs were filed in Delhi alone in connection to the riots that killed over 2,733 people. Out of this, 240 cases were closed being called ‘untraced’ and 250 resulted in acquittals. Only 28 cases have resulted in the conviction of the accused, this includes 400 convicted and 50 of which are for murder.
Sajjan Kumar is one such convicted murderer. In the Palam colony case of Delhi that killed five people, Sajjan Kumar is sentenced for life imprisonment. He had appealed in the Supreme Court, and the appeal is still pending.