New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar’s plea challenging his conviction in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in July, after noting submissions that he has spent over seven years in prison.
A Bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Atul S Chandurkar agreed to list the matter in the last week of July, after the summer vacation, while hearing submissions made on Kumar’s behalf.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan told the court that Kumar, 80, has been in jail since December 31, 2018, following his conviction and life sentence by the Delhi High Court. He argued that Kumar had originally been acquitted by the trial court before the High Court overturned that verdict.
“The gentleman has been inside for seven years and four months. He has never sought parole or any other remedy,” counsel told the court, while also citing Kumar’s age and family circumstances.
Kumar was convicted in connection with killings in Delhi’s Raj Nagar area in Palam Colony during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, where five Sikhs were murdered and a gurdwara was set ablaze. The Delhi High Court had reversed the trial court’s acquittal and awarded him life imprisonment.
In a separate development earlier this year, a Delhi court had also sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment in another 1984 riots case related to the killing of a father and son in Saraswati Vihar.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots erupted after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and claimed around 3,000 lives, most of them Sikhs.
Taking note of the submissions, the apex court agreed to hear Kumar’s challenge to the High Court verdict in July.
