SC To Hear Sajjan Kumar’s Appeal in 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case After Diwali Break
Apex Court to examine conviction, witness testimonies, and reversal of trial court verdict.
New Delhi, Sept 25: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar’s plea challenging his conviction and life imprisonment in the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots case after the Diwali break.
The top court, which begins its recess on October 20, will resume hearings on October 27. A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi directed the counsels to detail the allegations, witness testimonies, and reasons that persuaded the Delhi High Court to overturn the 2010 trial court acquittal.
The High Court had convicted Kumar in December 2018, sentencing him to life imprisonment for conspiracy, abetment to murder, promoting enmity on religious grounds, and destruction of a Gurdwara in Delhi Cantonment during the riots. Kumar, who resigned from the Congress after the verdict, surrendered the same month.
The case pertains to the killing of five Sikhs and the burning of a Gurdwara in Delhi’s Raj Nagar area on November 1–2, 1984, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Along with Kumar’s appeal, the Supreme Court will also hear the pleas of co-convicts Balwan Khokhar and Girdhari Lal. The Delhi High Court had earlier described the violence as a “crime against humanity” carried out with political patronage and aided by indifferent law enforcement, noting that over 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the national capital alone.
