Sajjan’s conviction 2nd among 1984 riot cases reopened by SIT

Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar’s Wednesday conviction for the murders of Jaswant Singh and his son on November 1, 1984, is the second conviction secured in the anti-Sikh riot cases reopened and reinvestigated by the NDA government-instituted special investigation team in February 2015.

In the first such instance, Delhi’s Patiala House Court had, on November 20, 2018, pronounced capital punishment for Yashpal Malik for murdering two young Sikhs in the aftermath of former PM Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984.

That was the second death sentence ever awarded in any 1984 Sikh massacre case. In the first such case, Kishori Lal was awarded capital punishment for the riots in 1996.

Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey had, while pronouncing the death sentence for Malik, awarded life sentence to Naresh Sehrawat, the second murder convict in the same case. The matter involved gruesome killings of Hardev Singh (24) and Avtar Singh (26) in South Delhi’s Mahipalpur on November 1, 1984.

Like in today’s case, which took 41 years to be brought to justice, the previous case had also been first registered on the complaint of one Santokh Singh, brother of Hardev Singh, on April 29, 1993.

The police had, however, closed the matter as “untraced”.

It was the SIT formed by the BJP-led NDA government on February 12, 2015, that re-investigated the matter and brought it to culmination.

Speaking to The Tribune today, Atma Singh Lubana, who has been helping the riot-affected families through the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said the conviction of Sajjan Kumar marked a major milestone in the journey of the SIT constituted on the recommendations of Justice GP Mathur Committee. The committee had recommended the reopening of 114 riot cases.

Today’s matter in which Sajjan Kumar has been convicted is one of them.

Lubana is himself a victim of the 1984 riots, having lost his five family members. “At least seven cases reinvestigated by the SIT are under trial. Today’s judgment rekindles hope of justice in all of those,” he said.

Sajjan Kumar is already serving life term after his conviction in a case involving five killings during the anti-Sikh riots. The Delhi High Court had, on December 17, 2018, awarded life term to Kumar for abetting murders.

The former Congress leader had subsequently surrendered and resigned from the Congress. He was jailed on December 31, 2018.