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An Indian court sentenced former lawmaker Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment for orchestrating the murder of two Sikh men during the 1984 riots targeting the minority community.
The politician was convicted of inciting a mob that killed Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in the aftermath of then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards.
Special judge Kaveri Baweja delivered the ruling on Tuesday.
The prosecution had sought the death penalty, but the judge opted for life imprisonment.
Investigators had accused the former Congress party lawmaker of leading a mob that burned two Sikh men to death and looted their home during the anti-Sikh riots.
The prosecution argued that he orchestrated the attack while Kumar’s lawyers questioned the reliability of eyewitness testimonies that were taken after a delay of seven years.
“The present case is more serious than the Nirbhaya case. In that case, a young woman was targeted. Here, people of a particular community were attacked,” the prosecution said, stating that Kumar’s crime fell under the “rarest of rare” category which deserved the death penalty.
Sectarian riots erupted in Delhi and elsewhere in India after Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. She had angered the minority Sikh community by sending the military to storm the Golden Temple – the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar in Punjab – to eliminate militants holed up there.
“We will not accept anything less than the death penalty. We are not happy with the verdict of the court,” Sikh leader Gurlad Singh was quoted as saying by India Today. “We will appeal to the government to go to a higher court and announce the death penalty for Sajjan Kumar.”
Kumar is already serving a life sentence following his 2018 conviction by the Delhi High Court for the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part I, Palam Colony, on 1-2 November 1984, and for orchestrating the burning of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part II of the capital.
In September 2023, a Delhi court acquitted Kumar in a case involving the killing of seven Sikhs during the 1984 riots in Sultanpuri.
He still faces a pending case in a Delhi court while two appeals against his acquittal are before the High Court. An appeal against his conviction in another case is pending in the Supreme Court.
For decades, families of the victims of the anti-Sikh riots struggled for justice, facing repeated setbacks due to alleged political interference and police inaction.
Despite multiple inquiries and commissions, little progress was made and key accused, including Kumar, remained untouched by the law. It was only in 2018, after sustained pressure from activists and families of the victims, that the Supreme Court intervened and ordered a fresh investigation and fast-tracking trials. This led to Kumar’s conviction and life sentence.
The Indian government set up the Nanavati Commission in 2000 to investigate the 1984 riots. Headed by Justice GT Nanavati, the commission submitted its report in 2005, naming key political figures, including Kumar and former minister Jagdish Tytler, as instigators of the violence.
The report, citing official estimates, says 2,733 Sikhs were killed in Delhi between 31 October and 5 November 1984. It notes, however, that Sikh community representatives dispute this figure, claiming that over 3,000 Sikhs were killed.
The report notes that most of the deaths took place on 1 and 2 November 1984. “Big mobs armed with weapons attacked the houses of Sikhs,” it says, “male members were assaulted and beaten mercilessly and many of them were burned alive or cut into pieces.”
“Many dead bodies were removed in vehicles and it is alleged that they were thrown into river Yamuna,” it continues. “Large number of shops and business establishments of Sikhs were looted and many of them were subsequently burnt as well. Many taxi stands and taxis were burnt as mainly Sikhs were in that business.”
A Sikh community leader expressed disappointment that Kumar was not given the death penalty but acknowledged that justice had prevailed with his life sentence, even after 41 years.
“We are upset that someone like Sajjan Kumar was not given the death penalty. I believe if he had been given a death sentence, it would have been better, and we would have felt satisfied,” Jagdip Singh Kahlon, general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI on Tuesday. “After 41 years, even if he got life imprisonment, justice has prevailed. I respect the verdict of the court.”
