A day after conviction, Sajjan Kumar resigns from Congress

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 18

A day after being convicted for abetting the murder of five Sikhs in the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar resigned from primary membership of the party today. 

A three-time Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi, Kumar, 73, was convicted by the Delhi High Court yesterday and sentenced to imprisonment for the rest of his natural life.

The resignation, sent to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, didn’t impress the party’s rivals with the Akali Dal accusing the Congress of hypocrisy, asking why it patronised Kumar for years.

Sajjan Kumar was a Congress MP until as late as 2004 and it was only in 2009 that the party denied him a ticket following outrage over the 1984-tainted leaders Kumar and Jagdish Tytler being considered as candidates.

Both were asked to sit out with the Congress fielding Sajjan Kumar’s brother Ramesh Kumar instead of him. Ramesh Kumar won in 2009 but lost in 2014.

Akali Dal spokesperson Manjinder Singh Sirsa today sought the resignation of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying Sajjan Kumar had enjoyed political protection of successive Congress governments. 

After Sajjan Kumar’s conviction, all eyes will be on Congress’ former MP Jagdish Tytler, a suspect in three Sikh killings during a riot that broke out in Gurdwara Pul Bangash, Bara Hindu Rao area of New Delhi in November 1984. This was one of the three cases the Nanavati Commission ordered to be reopened for a fresh CBI probe in 2005. 

The other two cases were the killing of five members of Jagdish Kaur’s family in Delhi Cantonment (in which Sajjan Kumar was convicted yesterday) and the Sultanpuri killings in which Sajjan Kumar continues to be under trial with one witness, Cham Kaur, identifying him recently.

The case against Tytler has witnessed several twists and turns with the CBI earlier filing three closure reports — in 2007, 2009 and again in 2014.

It was only when complainant Lakhwinder Kaur, whose husband had died in the Pul Bangash attack, filed a protest petition that the court rejected CBI’s closure report in the matter. By an order dated December 4, 2015, Karkardooma courts asked the CBI to continue probing Tytler’s role.

This case is listed for hearing on January 31, 2019, with the CBI expected to file a report of the lie detector test of one of the murder witnesses, namely Abhishek Verma. 

In between, Delhi’s Patiala House Court will also hear the Sultanpuri killings case wherein Sajjan Kumar is an accused. This case is scheduled for December 20 for cross-examination of witness Cham Kaur, whose father and son were killed in the riots on November 1, 1984.

Meanwhile, the Akali Dal and DSGMC have pledged to revive the case against Congress veteran Kamal Nath. He was given a clean chit by the Nanavati Commission in 2005 but counsel for the riot survivors say the Centre-appointed SIT is well within its right to reopen the case.