NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who has been held guilty of the murder of a father-son duo in the Saraswati Vihar area of the Capital during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Despite vehement demands from the prosecution and the victims’ family to award the death penalty to Kumar, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja spared him the gallows in view of his old age, ailments and good conduct while serving life term in another anti-Sikh riot case. The verdict came over the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.
“Though the killings of two innocent persons in the present case is no less an offence, however, the circumstances, in my opinion, do not make this a ‘rarest of rare case’ warranting imposition of the death penalty for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the IPC,” Baweja said in her order.
Noting that the offences proved to have been committed by Kumar were “undoubtedly brutal and reprehensible”, the Special Judge said there were certain mitigating factors which weighed in favour of imposing a lesser sentence, instead of the death penalty.
“The ‘satisfactory’ conduct of the convict as per the report of the jail authorities, the ailments from which he is reportedly suffering, the fact that the convict has roots in society and the possibility of his reformation and rehabilitation are material considerations which, in my opinion, tilt the scales in favour of sentence for life imprisonment instead of death penalty,” Baweja said.
Kumar has been awarded imprisonment of varying terms for ten offences and all sentences will run concurrently. The court also ordered Kumar to pay a fine of approximately Rs 2.4 lakh, which will be paid to the victim’s family.
Maintaining that any amount of monetary relief may be wholly inadequate after 41 years of the incident to compensate for the pain and sufferings of the survivors, she recommended payment of compensation to the victims as per Section 396 BNSS (Section 357A CrPC) under the Victim Compensation Scheme to be determined by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) after due inquiry.
Around 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs, were killed in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards.
The case relates to the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984. Punjabi Bagh police station registered the case and the probe was subsequently taken over by a special investigation team.
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 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.
While convicting Kumar, Baweja had on February 12 said, “In the light of… the evidence on record considered in its totality, I am of the opinion that the prosecution has been able to prove its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.” Besides murder, Kumar has also been convicted of rioting, dacoity, attempt to cause death or grievous hurt, committing culpable homicide and burning the victim’s house as a member of an unlawful assembly. Kumar (79) is already serving life imprisonment in another anti-Sikh riots related case and the Supreme Court has refused to grant him bail.
He has been in jail since December 31, 2018, when he surrendered after being convicted and awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in a case relating to the anti-Sikh riots in Raj Nagar part-I area in 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. His appeal against conviction and sentence order of the high court is pending in the Supreme Court.
On September 20, 2023, Special Judge Geetanjli Goel had acquitted Kumar in a case related to the murder of a person during the 1984 riots in the Sultanpuri area of the Capital, giving him the “benefit of doubt”. The state’s appeal against his acquittal is pending in the Delhi High Court. The fourth case against Kumar in connection with a culpable homicide in the Janakpuri area during the riots is listed before Special Judge Baweja for evidence on February 18.