'Benefit of doubt': Sajjan Kumar let off in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 20

Giving him “benefit of doubt”, a Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the murder of a person during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Sultanpuri area of the Capital.

Serving life term in another case

• Despite acquittal in this case, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar won’t be released from jail
• He is serving life imprisonment in another case related to the 1984 riots

“Accused Sajjan Kumar is given benefit of doubt and acquitted of the offence,” said Special Judge Geetanjli Goel, who also acquitted two other accused — Ved Prakash Pial and Brahmanand Gupta. The prosecution has failed to prove the case of murder and rioting against the accused, she added. Despite acquittal in this case, Kumar won’t be released from jail as he is serving life imprisonment in another case relating to the 1984 riots. Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal termed the acquittal “painful and shocking”. Kumar was accused of various offences punishable under the IPC, including promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, etc. (Section 153A), abetment of any offence (Section 109), murder (Section 302) and rioting (147) in connection with the murder of Surjit Singh during the 1984 riots in Sultanpuri.

Nearly 3,000 people 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.

Kumar (77) has been in jail since December 31, 2018, when he surrendered after being convicted and awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in another case relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the Raj Nagar-I area of 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-II. (With PTI Inputs)

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