1984 riots: Verdict in murder case against Sajjan Kumar deferred to January 8     

A Delhi court on Monday deferred to January 8 next year its verdict in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case related to murder of two persons in Saraswati Vihar area against former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who was scheduled to pronounce the verdict, said it will now be delivered on January 8.

Kumar, who is currently serving life imprisonment in another anti-Sikh riots case in Tihar Jail, appeared before the court through video conference.

Special Judge Baweja had reserved the verdict after hearing the final arguments in the case related to the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.

The Punjabi Bagh police station registered the case and the probe was subsequently taken over by a special investigation team.

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”.

Around 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs, were killed in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards.

Kumar (79) has been in jail since December 31, 2018, when he surrendered after being convicted and awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in another case relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Raj Nagar Part-I area at Palam Colony in South West Delhi in which five Sikhs were killed on November 1-2, 1984, and a gurdwara was burnt down in Raj Nagar Part-II. The Supreme Court has refused to grant him bail.

However, giving them “benefit of doubt”, Special Judge Geetanjli Goel had on September 20, 2023, acquitted Kumar and two other accused—Ved Prakash Pial and Brahmanand Gupta—in a case related to murder of a person during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Sultanpuri area of the National Capital.