The Delhi High Court on Friday adjourned to November 19 the hearing of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar’s appeal challenging his conviction and life imprisonment in a murder case linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The matter was listed before a division bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain but could not be taken up as the bench did not hold court.
The case relates to the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A trial court in Delhi had, on February 25 this year, sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment for his role in the murders.
While awarding life imprisonment, the trial court noted that Kumar’s advanced age and health conditions were considered as mitigating factors against imposing the death penalty. The court observed that although the killings of “two innocent persons” were heinous, the case did not fall under the category of “rarest of rare” warranting capital punishment.
The trial court held Kumar guilty of being part of the mob that attacked and set fire to the house of the victims, leading to their deaths, and looted their belongings. It said the case was part of the same chain of events for which Kumar had earlier been convicted by the Delhi High Court in December 2018.
In that earlier case, he was found guilty of the murders of five people during riots in Delhi’s Palam Colony on November 1 and 2, 1984, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of approximately ₹2.4 lakh in the present case.
According to the Nanavati Commission report, set up to probe the riots and their aftermath, 587 FIRs were registered in Delhi in connection with the violence, which claimed 2,733 lives. Around 240 FIRs were closed as “untraced,” and 250 cases resulted in acquittals. Only 28 cases led to convictions, in which about 400 people were found guilty. Around 50 individuals, including Sajjan Kumar, were convicted of murder.
Kumar, a powerful Congress leader and MP at the time, continues to face multiple legal proceedings related to the 1984 riots. His appeal against his 2018 conviction is pending before the Supreme Court.
The Delhi High Court has fixed the matter for hearing on November 19, when it will take up Kumar’s appeal against his February 2025 conviction and sentence.
