1984 anti-Sikh riots case: Delhi HC admits appeal by Sajjan Kumar

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday admitted the appeal filed by former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar challenging his conviction and the life sentence awarded to him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case relating to the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984.

A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain sought a response from the investigating agency on Kumar’s plea for suspension of sentence and listed the matter for hearing on January 28. Advocate Anil Kumar Sharma, along with Apoorv Sharma and Anuj Sharma, appeared for Kumar and submitted that his name was introduced at a later stage and did not appear in the early versions of the case.

Kumar is currently serving life imprisonment with a fine of Rs one lakh under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the IPC for murder, along with a second life term and a fine of Rs one lakh for destruction of property by fire under Section 436 read with Section 149 of the IPC. The Rouse Avenue Court had, on February 25, awarded the two life sentences while rejecting the prosecution’s prayer for the death penalty.