Sajjan Kumar acquitted in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case linked to the alleged instigation of violence during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a decision that is likely to be seen as a setback for survivors and families seeking justice in decades-old cases.

Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh delivered a brief oral order clearing Kumar of charges connected to rioting and communal violence in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas of west Delhi.

The court said a detailed, reasoned judgment would be issued later. A copy of the order is awaited.

The case concerned allegations that Kumar had incited mobs during the violence that followed the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in November 1984. Prosecutors had claimed his role led to targeted attacks on members of the Sikh community in parts of west Delhi.

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In August 2023, the trial court had framed charges against Kumar for rioting and promoting enmity between communities. At the same time, he was discharged of the graver charges of murder and criminal conspiracy in the same proceedings.

The prosecution stemmed from two first information reports registered by a special investigation team in February 2015. One FIR related to the killing of Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh in Janakpuri on November 1, 1984. The second FIR concerned the death of Gurcharan Singh, who was allegedly set on fire a day later in Vikaspuri.

Despite the acquittal in this case, Kumar will remain in jail. He is currently serving a life sentence awarded by a trial court on February 25 last year in a separate 1984 riots case. That conviction relates to the killing of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Delhi’s Saraswati Vihar area on November 1, 1984.