Sajjan gets second life sentence over 1984 riots

New Delhi A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced former Congress parliamentarian Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment following his conviction in the brutal murder of a father and son during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Saraswati Vihar, Delhi, culminating a roughly four-decade-long battle for justice.

The verdict marked the second life term handed out to Kumar, 79, for his role in the deadly riots that followed then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984, by her Sikh bodyguards, leading to the killing of at least 2,800 people in the national capital alone.

Special judge Kaveri Baweja acknowledged the “brutal and reprehensible” nature of the crime but ruled out the death penalty, citing Kumar’s satisfactory conduct in prison, his advanced age, ailments, and potential for reform. The court concluded that the case did not meet the threshold of the “rarest of rare” category that warrants capital punishment.

“The offences proved to have been committed by the convict are undoubtedly brutal and reprehensible. At the same time, there are certain mitigating factors which, in my opinion, weigh in favour of imposing a lesser sentence instead of the death penalty,” the judgment stated.

Families of several 1984 riots victims said they were disappointed with the quantum of punishment. “Kumar will still meet his family in prison, they will share their grief during mulakats (meetings)… but who is there for us? We lost everyone. No justice can bring them back,” said 74-year-old Inder Kaur, who lost six family members in the carnage.

The court took note of Kumar’s prior conviction in 2018, in which the Delhi high court sentenced him to life imprisonment for his involvement in the killing of five people in another riot-related case. It held that the present case was part of the same sequence of events that unfolded in the aftermath of Gandhi’s assassination.

The court sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Section 149 IPC for being a member of an unlawful assembly. It also imposed another life sentence under Section 436 IPC for arson, along with several other punishments for charges under dacoity, attempt to commit culpable homicide and mischief, which will all run concurrently.

It further directed that the fine of ₹2.41 lakh collected from Kumar be distributed equally among the victims as compensation.

Kumar, a three-time Lok Sabha MP for the Congress, was convicted for actively inciting the violent mob and orchestrated the attack that killed Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in one of the most gory crimes during the anti-Sikh riots. He resigned from the party in 2018.

The case is a stark reminder of delayed justice in one of India’s most notorious riots. While the victims’ families continue to seek closure, the legal proceedings in several riot cases remain ongoing.

Last week, the Supreme Court questioned the long delay by the Delhi high court in deciding appeals in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases -- some of which have been pending for over seven years -- and called for a report in this regard within a month. The top court further directed the Delhi Police to expedite filing of appeals before the top court against six separate high court orders of acquittal and ensure that this is done within six weeks.

In the present case, the prosecution sought the death penalty, arguing that Kumar’s actions constituted genocide and ethnic cleansing. Additional public prosecutor Manish Rawat contended that his previous conviction in a similar case emphasised the necessity for capital punishment, as life imprisonment alone would be insufficient for the gravity of his crimes.

“The brutal killings and targeted violence amount to a crime against humanity. His political influence allowed him to evade justice for decades, and the only just punishment is capital punishment,” the prosecution argued, citing Supreme Court precedents in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980) and Machhi Singh vs State of Punjab (1983).

Senior counsel HS Phoolka, representing the complainant, also pressed for the maximum punishment. Considering that two innocent persons were murdered at the hands of a mob led by Kumar, Phoolka said, the convict deserved to be awarded the death penalty and nothing less.

The defence team, led by advocate Anil Kumar Sharma, however, pleaded for a lenient sentence, highlighting Kumar’s age, ailments including Parkinson’s disease and chronic hyponatremia, and his “satisfactory” conduct in jail. His legal team argued that he was already serving a life sentence from the 2018 case and that capital punishment should only be reserved for the “rarest of rare” cases, which this was not.

Accepting the defence’s submissions, the court noted that the incident in question can be said to be a “continuity of the same incident” for which Kumar was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi high court in December 2018.

“Though the killings of two innocent persons in the present case is no less an offence, however, the above noted circumstances, in my opinion, do not make this a ‘rarest of rare case’, warranting imposition of death penalty,” the judge ruled.

The court also recommended that the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) determine additional compensation for the victims under the Victim Compensation Scheme.

On February 12, after nearly four decades of legal proceedings, the court had convicted Kumar of inciting a mob that killed Jaswant Singh, 50, and his son Tarundeep Singh, 18, in Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984.

The judgment highlighted systemic failures that allowed Kumar to evade justice for decades. It specifically criticised the Delhi Police for accepting an “untrace report” in 1994, which effectively closed the case without informing the complainant, Jaswant Singh’s wife.

The judgment emphasised the suffering of the victims and noted that they were left without support from the police or neighbours. “The victims not only witnessed the brutal killings of their family members but also the destruction of their home and belongings. The helplessness they faced in the absence of any support whatsoever has been clearly established,” it stated.

Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said they will decide whether to approach the high court seeking capital punishment for Kumar. “We were expecting a death penalty. We will decide whether to appeal to the high court,” he said. Former Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said although he welcomed the sentencing he was hoping that Kumar would get death penalty. “I was expecting that court would pronounce death penalty to Sajjan Kumar for his involvement in Sikh massacre of 1984, still I welcome the Delhi court’s decision to award life imprisonment,” he posted on X.