Supreme Court refuses interim bail on health grounds to Sajjan Kumar in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 3

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant interim bail to former Delhi Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who is serving life sentence in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, saying his medical condition is stable.

"He (Kumar) is accused of heinous crimes...You want him to be treated like some super VIP patient," a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul told his counsel. His medical condition was stable and was improving, it noted.

However, it clarified that if medical authorities considered it necessary to shift him to Medanta for further treatment, they might do so.

Kumar (75) has sought interim bail citing his poor health condition and the top court had on August 24 asked the CBI to verify the medical condition.

Kumar - who had sought interim bail on the grounds of his poor health condition - 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.

He has challenged the Delhi High Court's verdict of December 17, 2018 that awarded him life imprisonment for the "remainder of his natural life".

The case relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar Part-I area of southwest Delhi on November 1-2 in 1984, and burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh had submitted on behalf of the convict that he should be taken to a private hospital for treatment as his condition had not been determined at a government hospital here.

“We want somebody from the state to verify it. We want the state to verify what the medical condition is,” the Bench had said, posting the matter for September 6. Later, the hearing was advanced to September 3.

The Supreme Court on September 4 last year had dismissed Kumar’s interim bail plea, saying "This is not a small case...We cannot grant you bail.”

It had also declined his plea for hospitalisation, saying his medical reports suggested he didn’t need to be sent to a hospital.

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