Delhi court acquits Sajjan Kumar in 1984 riots cases

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in connection with the alleged killings of two Sikhs, Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh, in Delhi’s Janakpuri, and another incident in Vikaspuri where one Gurcharan Singh was allegedly set ablaze, during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Pronouncing a brief order, Special Judge Digvijay Singh of the Rouse Avenue Courts acquitted 78-year-old Sajjan Kumar.

The case pertained to allegations of violence during the riots that broke out following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

Decades later, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted on the recommendation of the Justice G.P. Mathur Committee to reopen 114 cases.

In August 2023, the trial court formally framed charges against Sajjan Kumar under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but decided to drop the murder charge under Section 302, applied earlier by the SIT.

The trial in the matter had concluded on September 23 last year, after which the court reserved its verdict on December 22.

Earlier, Sajjan Kumar had pleaded not guilty to the charges, maintaining that he was innocent and could not have been involved in the alleged offences “even in his wildest dreams”.

He claimed that there was no material evidence linking him to the incidents and claimed that he was not present at the sites of violence.

On November 9, 2023, the court had recorded the statement of the victim, Manjeet Kaur, who stated that she had heard from members of the mob that Sajjan Kumar was present during the violence, but clarified that she did not personally see him at the scene.

Sajjan Kumar, who was a Member of Parliament at the time of the riots, has been accused in multiple cases of inciting mobs to attack members of the Sikh community.

In an earlier verdict, the Delhi High Court had delivered a scathing judgment against him in another case, observing that he had evaded justice for decades due to “political patronage”, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. His appeal against that conviction is pending before the Supreme Court.

IANS