Delhi HC stays Sajjan Kumar's bail in murder case relating to 1984 anti-Sikh riots

New Delhi, July 6

The Delhi High Court has stayed an order granting bail to former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a rioting and murder case relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the capital in which the trial is continuing.

Kumar (76) has been in jail since December 31, 2018, when he surrendered after being convicted and awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case that broke out following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The case in which Kumar was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment was related to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar (Part I) in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1 and 2, 1984, and the burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar (Part II).

Justice Yogesh Khanna issued a notice to Kumar and sought his response to the SIT’s plea challenging the bail given to him in a rioting and murder case lodged at the Saraswati Vihar police station in the national capital in which the trial is underway.

The SIT alleged that Kumar was involved in a heinous offence and some important witnesses were yet to be examined and if he was released, it might hamper the evidence and that he was already convicted in a similar case. — TNS

In jail since 2018

Sajjan Kumar (76) has been in jail since December 31, 2018, when he surrendered after being awarded life term by the Delhi High Court in a 1984 riots case following the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi.