Congress leader Sajjan Kumar gets lifer in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

Sajjan Kumar and five others were tried in the case involving the killing of five Sikhs -- Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, who were members of the same family -- by a mob in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar area.

NEW DELHI, INDIA - JULY 31: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar (R) during a massive protest against anti-employment policies of BJP and AAP Party at Talkatora Stadium on July 31, 2018 in New Delhi, India. (Photo via Getty Images)

New Delhi:  The Delhi High Court on Monday reversed the judgement of a trial court which acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar earlier and awarded him a life term in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case . The judgement was delivered by a bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel. "Truth will prevail and justice will be done, " the bench said while overturning the lower court's decision. Kumar has been asked to not leave the city and surrender by December 31, 2018. Speaking to ABP News Akali Dal leader and Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said justice won't be served until Sajjan Kumar and others convicted will get death penalty for the pogrom. "We will continue our fight till Sajjan Kumar & Jagdish Tytler get a death sentence & Gandhi family is dragged to the court & put in jail," he said. The verdict comes amid swearing-in functions of of Congress CMs Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath, Bhupesh Baghel in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh today. The decision can also cast a shadow over Kamal Nath's swearing-in as Sikh groups including Sirsa have alleged that Nath had a hand in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out in the national capital following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. Sikh groups have alleged that the Congress is protecting perpetrators of anti-Sikh riots by elevating Kamal Nath to the post of the CM. The BJP is also attacking the Congress leadership for making Kamal Nath the chief minister and perpetuating the injustice. Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley expressed his views over the verdict saying the judgement of the Delhi High Court of reversing the trial court order and convicting Sajjan Kumar is an extremely welcomed development. "The cover-ups are now being defeated. Sajjan Kumar was a symbol of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The legacy of 1984 anti-Sikh riots hangs around the neck of Congress and Gandhi family." Jaitley said it's co-incidental that the conviction of Sajjan Kumar has come on a day when another Congress leader Kamal Nath is being made the chief minister, who Sikh groups believe played a role in the riots. Before his interaction with reporters, Jaitley attacked the Gandhi family on Twitter.  "Sajjan Kumar’s conviction by the Delhi High Court is a delayed vindication of Justice. The Congress and the Gandhi family legacy will continue to pay for the sins of 1984 riots." Responding to Jaitley’s allegations, Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that BJP is doing the same at the Centre. “They did a massive cover-up in the Sohrabuddin case. BJP should not give political colour to the verdict or else it will damage them the most.” The deadly riots after the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards by incensed mobs across several parts of Delhi claimed at least 3,000 lives. Indian Sikhs prepare to burn a poster depicting the image of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar during a rally seeking justice for the massacre of Sikhs following the 1984 assassination of then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, near the Gurudwara Gobind Dham in Ahmedabad on June 2, 2013. Activists accuse Congress of having turned a blind eye to the killing of Sikhs and say some of its leaders may have helped incite mobs. AFP PHOTO / Sam PANTHAKY (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY / AFP) The CBI had filed an appeal challenging the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar and said that the trial court "erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the riots". In October, the High Court reserved its order on the pleas challenging that trial court judgement on Sajjan Kumar but convicted the other five accused in the case related to the killing of five people in Delhi Cantonment area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. The HC Division Bench upheld the trial court April 30, 2013, judgement convicting five other accused -- former councillor Balwan Khokhar, former legislator Mahender Yadav, Krishan Khokar, Girdhari Lal and Retired Captain Bhagmal -- for their involvement in the case. The five convicts have also filed appeals against their conviction. Sajjan Kumar and five others were tried in the case involving the killing of five Sikhs -- Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, who were members of the same family -- by a mob in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. The case against Sajjan Kumar and others was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission. Sajjan Kumar and said that the trial court "erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the riots". Meanwhile, Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal welcomes the court's verdict convicting Sajjan Kumar in 1984 riots case. "It has been a very long and painful wait for innocent victims who were murdered by those in power.  Nobody involved in any riot should be allowed to escape no matter how powerful the individual maybe,"he tweeted.

Justice to 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims finally. Congress leader Sajjan Kumar sentenced to life imprisonment by Delhi HC. Thanks to the efforts of HM Rajnath Singh & MHA of reopening the cases deliberately suppressed by the previous Govt: Ram Madhav, BJP

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 17, 2018

What did the High Court say: "In the summer of 1947, during partition, this country witnessed horrific mass crimes where several lakhs of civilians, including Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus were massacred," the bench said. "Thirty-seven years later, the country was again witness to another enormous human tragedy. Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on the morning of October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards, a communal frenzy was unleashed." "For four days between November 1 to November 4 of that year, all over Delhi, 2,733 Sikhs were brutally murdered. Their houses were destroyed. In the rest of the country too, thousands of Sikhs were killed," the bench observed in its 203-page order. The court said: "A majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes, enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency. "The criminals escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades. "It took as many as 10 Committees and Commissions for the investigation into the role of some of them to be entrusted in 2005 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), 21 years after the occurrence." (With inputs from Agencies)