1984 anti-Sikh riots: Delhi court acquits Sajjan Kumar in Janakpuri-Vikaspuri violence case
In August 2023, a court framed charges against Kumar for rioting and promoting enmity, while clearing him of allegations related to murder and criminal conspiracy.
PTC News Desk: A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in connection with a case related to inciting violence in Janakpuri and Vikarpuri areas in the national capital during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh orally pronounced a brief order acquitting Kumar. A detail order is awaited.
In August 2023, a court framed charges against Kumar for rioting and promoting enmity, while clearing him of allegations related to murder and criminal conspiracy.
Earlier, in February 2015, a special investigation team had lodged two FIRs against Kumar over complaints linked to violence in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas during the 1984 riots.
The first FIR pertained to the Janakpuri incident, where Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh were killed on November 1, 1984. The second related to the alleged killing of Gurcharan Singh, who was reportedly set on fire on November 2, 1984, in Vikaspuri.
Kumar, who is currently lodged in jail, was sentenced to life imprisonment on February 25 last year by a trial court in connection with the murders of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984, in the Saraswati Vihar area.
The court observed that while the killing of “two innocent persons” was a grave offence, it did not fall under the “rarest of rare” category that would justify the death penalty.
It further noted that the case formed part of the same chain of events and could be viewed as a continuation of the incident for which Kumar had already been awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018.