1984 anti-Sikh riots case | Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar gets life sentence for double murder

Special judge Kaveri Baweja pronounced the judgement for the murders of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar after he was found guilty of leading a mob which burnt alive a father-son duo during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the national capital.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who convicted Kumar of murder and other penal provisions on February 12, said, "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 death penalty".

The court noted that the case in question was part of the same incident and could be said to be a continuity of the incident for which the convict had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018.

Kumar was then found guilty of having caused the death of five innocent persons during the similar incident of rioting post the assassination of Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of the country.

The judge also noted the victims in the present case not only witnessed the brutal killings of their family members at the hands of the rioting mob which the convict was a part of, but they were also witness to the burning and destruction of their dwelling and looting of their belongings.

"The helplessness of the victims and the lack of any support whatsoever from the neighbours and also the police has also been established from their un-controverted depositions. In these circumstances, I am of the considered opinion that this is a fit case where the convict must also be awarded life imprisonment," the judge said.

The court also directed for payment of compensation to the victims as per provisions of Section 396 BNSS (Section 357A CrPC) under the Victim Compensation Scheme, as deemed by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) after due enquiry, "even though any amount of monetary relief may be wholly inadequate, even after 41 years of the incident, to compensate for the pain and sufferings of the survivors".

Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat, arguing on quantum of sentence, sought death penalty for the convict, contending he had been held guilty of committing the murder of Sardar Jaswant Singh aged about 50 years and his son Sardar Tarundeep Singh aged about 18 years as they were burnt alive.

He said the convict was a member of an unlawful assembly, and was also guilty of inflicting grievous injuries on the daughter and niece of Jaswant Singh and inflicting many injuries on the complainant, wife of Jaswant Singh during the incident of rioting on November 01, 1984. In addition, the convict, being a member of an unlawful assembly, was also convicted of looting the household articles of Jaswant Singh and destruction of his house by fire.

The complainant represented by senior advocate H S Phoolka also sought death penalty for the convict, contending he had already been awarded life imprisonment till remainder of his natural life.

Kumar's counsel Anil Kumar Sharma said the convict was 80 years of age and suffered from various ailments. Among other mitigating factors, he said the behaviour of the convict remained satisfactory and normal while in custody, a factor supportive of the possibility of his reformation.