Sajjan Kumar guilty in second 1984 riots case

A Delhi court convicted ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar for instigating a mob to kill a Sikh man and his son during the 1984 riots, concluding a 40-year case.

A Delhi court on Wednesday convicted former Congress parliamentarian Sajjan Kumar in an anti-Sikh riots case for instigating a mob to kill a man and his son in Delhi’s Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984, culminating a roughly four-decade-long legal battle and multiple investigations that highlighted serious lapses and “attempts to shield” Kumar.

Sajjan Kumar guilty in second 1984 riots case

Special judge Kaweri Baweja held that Kumar actively incited the violent mob that killed Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in one of the most gory crimes during the anti-Sikh riots that killed at least 2,800 people in the national capital alone.

The court said the prosecution successfully established Kumar’s role in orchestrating the attack and leading the unlawful assembly that vandalised the victims’ house and caused injuries to other family members.

“I am of the opinion that prosecution has been able to prove its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt…Accused Sajjan Kumar, being a member of such unlawful assembly, is guilty of having committed the murder of Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh,” held the judge.

The court posted the matter for February 18 for arguments on sentencing.

Kumar, 79, faces life imprisonment or the death penalty under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He is already serving a life sentence awarded by the Delhi high court in 2018 for the killing of five Sikhs and the burning of a Gurdwara during the 1984 riots that erupted in the wake of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984. Senior advocate HS Phoolka represented the victims in the case.

“I have known Jaswant’s family for decades. His wife initially didn’t know about the legal procedures, so some of us helped her out. Through the years, she has stayed quiet because she was hoping for justice. She is still not ready to talk,” Atma Singh, 66, a resident of Tilak Vihar who lost 11 members of his family in the riots said.

The judgment extensively referred to the systemic failures that allowed Kumar to evade justice for decades. The court criticised the Delhi Police’s role, particularly highlighting the acceptance of an “untrace report” in 1994, which closed the case without notifying the complainant and eyewitness, Jaswant Singh’s wife -- a decision that the court termed as a “grave failure of justice.”

“The acceptance of the untrace/closure report by the court without even issuing notice to the complainant is not only contrary to established legal norms but also resulted in grave failure of justice,” stated the judgment, adding that the complainant, despite identifying Kumar in her statement on January 8, 1992, was later made to change her stance in a subsequent statement recorded on May 12, 1992.

“The learned magistrate could not have acted merely on the basis of a statement recorded the police without even a notice to the complainant…The filing of the untrace report on the basis of her statement dated May 12, 1992 must be viewed as nothing but an attempt to shield the culprit,” lamented the court.

The woman complainant, Jaswant Singh’s wife, 84, played a crucial role in the case. While initially unable to identify Kumar, she later recognised him from a magazine photograph, which reinforced her recollection of him leading the mob.

The court has withheld the identities of Jaswant Singh’s family members as they are protected witnesses

Kumar’s defence team sought to discredit her identification, arguing that she named Kumar only after 32 years had passed since the crime. However, the court rejected this claim, recognising the trauma she endured.

“The agony and trauma suffered by the complainant on seeing her husband and young son being burnt must be kept in mind, more so when she herself suffered severe injuries,” it held.

Additionally, the court addressed a crucial aspect of the case - the reluctance of independent witnesses to come forward. Fear and intimidation played a key role in silencing testimonies in the years following the riots.

“The fact that the residents of the locality hesitated to rescue and provide aid to these victims at the time of the occurrence is sufficient to conclude that they would also not have come forward to support their version before the court,” noted the judgment.

Apart from Jaswant Singh’s wife, the court also deemed testimonies of Jaswant Singh’s daughter and niece, who corroborated key pieces of evidence, crucial to the prosecution’s case in establishing that Kumar was a central figure in orchestrating the attack.

The investigation into the brutal killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh followed a long and troubled trajectory, marked by delays, institutional failures, and fresh investigative efforts decades later. The incident itself occurred on November 1, 1984, when a mob, incited by Sajjan Kumar, attacked the victims in their home. In the years that followed, various inquiry commissions were set up, but concrete legal action remained elusive.

In 1985, the Ranganath Misra Commission was appointed to investigate the anti-Sikh riots, and the complainant provided her statement. Despite this, the case remained dormant for several years. In 1992, an investigation was undertaken, and the complainant initially identified Kumar in her statement on January 8, 1992. However, within a few months, a revised statement was recorded in May 1992, contradicting her earlier testimony, which the court found suspicious in its judgment on Wednesday.

Subsequently, in 1994, the police submitted an “untrace report”, effectively closing the case without informing the complainant. This procedural lapse was called out by the court on Wednesday as a major miscarriage of justice.

Decades later, renewed efforts were made to bring perpetrators to justice. In 2015, the ministry of home affairs constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reinvestigate the pending 1984 riot cases, including the killing of Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh. The SIT’s efforts culminated in 2021 when a charge sheet was filed, formally charging Kumar with offences including murder, attempted murder, and rioting.