Anti-Sikh riots: Sajjan Kumar's conviction is third successful prosecution within a month

Senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's conviction and sentence to life for "remainder of his natural life" by the Delhi High Court on Monday is the third successful prosecution within a month relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

The judgement holding Kumar guilty in a case arising out of one of the worst genocides in the country comes 19 days after the High Court on November 28 upheld the conviction of 70 out of the 89 people who were awarded five-year jail term by a trial court in another case during anti-Sikh riots.

Before that a trial court on November 20 had awarded death penalty to convict Yashpal Singh and ordered life imprisonment to another, Naresh Sherawat, for killing of two men during the riots that followed the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards, leaving nearly 3,000 people dead.

The conviction of November 14 and subsequent punishment awarded to the duo has been challenged in the high court.

73-year-old Kumar is possibly the first big politician to be convicted after 34 years of the riots.

His conviction has come with a strong observation by the High Court which said the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage".

The case relates to killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar part II.

Six accused, including Kumar, who was a Member of Parliament at that time, were sent for trial in 2010 and three years later, the lower court had convicted five of the accused but acquitted the Congress leader of all the charges.

Before Kumar's case, the High Court while holding guilty 70 out of the 89 people on November 28 in another anti-Sikh riots case, had observed that it was a "dark chapter" in the history of independent India as the "law and order machinery had broken down".

Further, it had said: "The police forces, and the civil administration, did not take timely or effective action to prevent the riotous conditions from spiralling out of hand. The criminal law process began, but hesitatingly and belatedly."