NEW DELHI: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was on Monday sentenced to life term for "remainder of his natural life" in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case by the Delhi High Court, which held that the violence was a "crime against humanity" engineered by politicians with assistance from police. While non-Congress political parties hailed Sajjan Kumar's conviction, the Congress said the verdict should not be politicised and the law should take its own course.

Setting aside the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar and five others by a trial court, the court convicted them saying that the "criminals" had escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades. "This court is of the view that the mass killings of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in November 1984 were in fact 'crimes against humanity'. They will continue to shock the collective conscience of society for a long time to come," a bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the conviction was "a delayed vindication of justice". "Justice for the victims of 1984 was buried by the Congress. The NDA restored fairness and accountability... The Congress and the Gandhi family legacy will continue to pay for the sins of the 1984 riots," Jaitley tweeted. The Congress, he said, had repeatedly tried to cover up the truth. "But today, he (Sajjan Kumar) has been convicted."

Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the conviction of Sajjan was a "jolt" for the party and demanded action against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath for his alleged involvement in the riots.  "The 1984 anti-Sikh riots was a one-sided massacre...the Delhi High Court convicting Sajjan Kumar in this case is a severe jolt for the Congress," Javadekar said.

BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav welcomed the verdict and thanked Home Minister Rajnath Singh for reopening the cases "deliberately suppressed by the previous government".

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Monday hailed the conviction of Sajjan Kumar,  describing it as 'a case of justice finally delivered' to the victims of one of independent India's worst instances of communal violence. The reversal, by the Delhi High Court, of the trial court's earlier acquittal to Kumar had once again proved that the judiciary in India continues to stand tall as a pillar of the nation's democratic system, Singh said in a statement.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) head Arvind Kejriwal too hailed the ruling. "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 may be," he said.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said: "Justice delayed but not denied."

Welcoming the verdict, Akali Dal leader and Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the next in the list after Sajjan Kumar were Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath.

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjit Singh called it a "historic day". "Sajjan Kumar received political patronage and went on to become MP. We demand capital punishment for Sajjan Kumar and other accused. Congress governments protected Sajjan Kumar. I hope Kamal Nath and Jagdish Tytler will also be brought to Justice," he told reporters.

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 from the same family -- by a mob in Delhi Cantonment's Raj Nagar area. The trial court had acquitted him.

(With inputs from agencies)