Congress leader Sajjan Kumar gets life term in 1984 riots case

Thirty-four years after the anti-Sikh riots, the Delhi High Court Monday sentenced Congress veteran Sajjan Kumar to life in the first conviction of a politician in the communal frenzy, holding it was perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage".

The reversal of 73-year-old Kumar's acquittal by a trial court cast a shadow on the swearing-in of fellow Congress leader Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh with the BJP and ally Shiromani Akali Dal demanding answers from the Congress leadership when Sikh groups have alleged his culpability in the riots. Nath has denied any role in the riots and nor he is an accused in any riots case.

Describing the riots as "crimes against humanity", the high court awarded Kumar life term for "remainder of his natural life", convicting him of criminal conspiracy and abetment in commission of crimes of murder, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of communal harmony and defiling and destruction of a Gurdwara.

The case in which Kumar was convicted related to killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 during the deadly riots in the national capital and other parts of the country.

According to official accounts, 2,733 Sikhs were killed between November 1 and 4, 1984 following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards on October 31.

Observing it was "undeniable" that it took over three decades to punish the accused in the case, the court said it was important to assure the victims that despite the challenges faced by the court, "truth will prevail and justice will be done".

The court directed Kumar, who was then a Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi, and other five convicts to surrender by December 31, 2018 and not to leave the city of Delhi.

There was no immediate reaction from Kumar.

But his lawyer Anil Sharma, who represented Kumar, in the high court told PTI the Congress leader intends to move an appeal in the Supreme Court against the verdict.

Sharma said Kumar is in the capital itself and since he has been given time till December 31 to surrender efforts would be made to challenge the conviction and the sentence before that day..

If no appeal would be filed before December 31, Kumar would surrender, he added.

Six accused, including Kumar, were sent for trial in 2010 and three years later, the lower court convicted five of the accused but acquitted the Congress leader of all the charges.

Quashing the acquittal on appeals by the CBI, a bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said the accused in the case were brought to justice "primarily on account of the courage and perseverance of three eyewitnesses" -- Jagdish Kaur, her cousin Jagsher Singh and Nirpreet Kaur.

Jagdish Kaur's husband, son and three cousins -- Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh -- were the five killed in the instant case. Nirpreet Kaur had witnessed the Gurdwara being burnt down and her father being burnt alive by the raging mobs, the bench also noted.

Jagdish Kaur and Narpreet Kaur said although 34 years is a long time, they were determined to "unmask the accused" and their their fight for justice will go on.

"This verdict has brought some relief. No one should face the kind of injustice we have faced all these years," said Jagdish Kaur.

The BJP and SAD hailed the verdict calling it historic and targeted the Congress while the opposition party cautioned against politicising the legal process in the anti-Sikh riots cases.

Senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley utilised the verdict to take a swipe at the Congress for choosing Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, claiming that Sikhs consider him "culpable" in the violence against the community.

"It is an irony that the verdict has come on a day when a Congress chief minister, who is held culpable by the Sikh community, is taking oath," Jaitley told reporters in an apparent reference to Nath.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra demanded Nath's removal as chief minister.

Nath hit back at the BJP over their offensive against him.

"When I took oath earlier, nobody said anything. The issue (1984 anti-Sikh riots) is being raked up despite no case, FIR or chargesheet against me," Nath told reporters in Bhopal shortly after he assumed office.

"You see there is a hidden hand," said alluding to the BJP.

Union minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the verdict has given confidence that the law would soon catch up with other Congress leaders allegedly involved in the "genocide".

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh hailed the verdict as a case of justice finally delivered to the victims of one of independent India's worst instances of communal violence.

The Congress leader reiterated his stand that neither his party nor the Gandhi family had any role to play in the rioting.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the anti-Sikhs riot case should not be linked to the political atmosphere prevailing in the country. "The law should take its course."
"It is important to assure those countless victims waiting patiently that despite the challenges, truth will prevail and justice will be done."