A DELHI court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a murder case connected to 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying his old age and illness weighed in favour of a lesser sentence instead of death penalty. Special judge Kaveri Baweja said, though the killings of “two innocent persons” in the case was no less an offence, it wasn’t a “rarest of rare case” warranting the imposition of death penalty. The verdict came over the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984. The judge said, the offences committed by Kumar were undoubtedly “brutal and reprehensible” but underscored certain mitigating factors, including his age of 80 years and illnesses that “weigh in favour of imposing a lesser sentence, instead of death penalty”. The offence of murder attracts a maximum of death penalty whereas the minimum punishment is life imprisonment. The complainant, wife of Jaswant, and the State, sought the maximum punishment in the case. “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 the 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,” the order said. Nothing “adverse was reported about Kumar’s behaviour” and his conduct was “satisfactory” according to a jail report, the court added.

 

The judge went on to add that the case at hand was part of the same incident and could be seen in continuity of the incident for which the Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018. He was then found guilty of having caused the death of five persons during a similar incident of rioting post the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The judge therefore awarded life imprisonment to Kumar for being part of the mob which set afire the house of the victims and “brutally killed” the two victims aside from looting their belongings. Referring to the jail report, the judge observed Kumar was unable to carry out his daily routine properly owing to poor health. The judge noted the psychiatric and psychological evaluation report of the convict, which revealed that he was under the treatment of the Department of Medicine, Urology and Neurology at Safdarjung Hospital and was prescribed anti depressive and sleep medicines. Kumar otherwise did not show any signs and symptoms of mental illness or requiring any psychiatric intervention at present, the judge noted. The judge also fined Kumar with approximately Rs 2.4 lakh. All the sentences were ordered by the court to run concurrently. According to a report of Nanavati Commission, constituted to probe the violence and its aftermath, there were 587 FIRs filed in Delhi in relation to the riots that saw killings of 2,733 people. Of the total, about 240 FIRs were closed by police as “untraced” and 250 cases resulted in acquittal. Of the 587 FIRs, only 28 resulted in convictions, in which about 400 persons were convicted. About 50 persons, including the former MP, were convicted for murder. Kumar, an influential Congress leader and an MP at the time, was accused in a case over the killings of five persons in Delhi’s Palam Colony on November 1 and 2 in 1984. He was awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in the case and his appeal challenging the punishment is pending before the Supreme Court. Two other appeals are pending before Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court against Kumar’s acquittal and life imprisonment in two cases, respectively.

 

 

DELHI Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) General Secretary Jagdip Singh Kahlon on Tuesday said that it was a sad matter that Congress leader Sajjan Kumar had not been given a death sentence in the 1984 anti- Sikh riots case row. Speaking to the media, Kahlon said that justice would have prevailed even if Kumar was given life imprisonment. “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, and we would have felt satisfied. After 41 years, even if he got life imprisonment, justice has prevailed. I respect the verdict of the court,” Kahlon said. Meanwhile, members of the Sikh community led by Sikh leader Gurlad Singh organised a protest in front of the court ahead of the trial court’s pronouncement of sentence for Kumar. Protesters demanded a death penalty for Kumar, who had been earlier convicted for his involvement in the murder of a father and son in Saraswati Vihar during the riots. While leading the protest, Gurlad Singh stated, “It’s a judiciary phrase that justice delayed is justice denied. Four decades have passed now. We demand only the death penalty for Sajjan Kumar.

 

These cases fall under the rarest of the rare category, as the 1984 riots were a pre-planned genocide orchestrated by the Congress leadership. “The Sikh community, still mourning the loss of their loved ones, hopes that this sentencing will bring some measure of closure and justice for the victims and their families,” he added. Gurlad Singh is also a main petitioner in the matters presently heard by the Supreme Court in the Sikh riots cases in which the Supreme Court in 2016 had constituted the SIT in the matter.