On Tuesday, Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was awarded life imprisonment by a special court in murder case in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The Court on Feb 12 convicted Sajjan Kumar for the offence & sought a report from Tihar Central Jail authorities on his psychiatric & psychological evaluation in view of a Supreme Court order asking for such a report in cases attracting capital punishment.

The minimum punishment for murder is life imprisonment whereas the maximum is death.

Reacting to the verdict, Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Jagdip Singh Kahlon said they are not happy with the punishment awarded to Sajjan Kumar.

"We are upset that someone like Sajjan Kumar was not given the death penalty. I believe if he had been given a death sentence, it would have been better, & we would have felt satisfied...After 41 years, even if he got life imprisonment, justice has prevailed. I respect the verdict of the court," news agency ANI quoted Kahlon.

Sikh leader Gurlad Singh also said nothing less than the “death penalty” will be accepted. "We are not happy with the verdict of the court. We will appeal to the govt to go to a higher court & announce death penalty for Sajjan Kumar...," Singh told ANI.

Complainant sought maximum punishment
The complainant in the case, who lost her husband & son in a mob attack during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots allegedly incited by Kumar, requested the maximum penalty of death for him.

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots were triggered by the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her Sikh bodyguards, Beant Singh & Satwant Singh. The assassination occurred in the wake of Operation Blue Star, a military operation that year in June, which was undertaken to remove Sikh militants, including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who were holed up in the Golden Temple, a holy shrine for Sikhs in Punjab's Amritsar.

"The accused, as the leader of the mob, incited others to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, & cold-blooded murders. He deserves nothing less than the death penalty," news agency PTI had quoted the argument of senior advocate HS Phoolka, representing the complainant.

Jaswant Singh & his son Tarundeep Singh were killed on November 1, 1984.

HS Phoolka pointed out that Sajjan Kumar had already been convicted by the Delhi High Court for five murders in another case related to the riots in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar area, & that these murders, alongside the ones in the present case, were part of a broader genocide.

HS Phoolka stated that Sajjan Kumar led the mob that killed the two men & that anyone who led & instigated such killings deserves a harsher punishment. He further emphasized that while Kumar received a life sentence for the Raj Nagar case, he now deserves a death sentence.
The prosecution alleged that a large mob, armed with weapons, carried out extensive looting, arson, & destruction of Sikh property in retaliation for the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The mob targeted the complainant’s house, killing her husband & son, & looted & set their property on fire.

The Nanavati Commission, established to investigate the violence & its aftermath, reported that 587 FIRs were filed in Delhi in connection to the riots, which led to the deaths of 2,733 people. Of these, 240 cases were closed as "untraced" & 250 resulted in acquittals. Only 28 cases led to convictions, with approximately 400 people convicted, including 50 for murder, such as Kumar.

Sajjan Kumar, a powerful Congress leader & MP at the time, was also implicated in the killings of five people in Delhi's Palam Colony on November 1 & 2, 1984. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in that case, & his appeal is still pending before the Supreme Court. 

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