Kumar appeal for surrender deadline extension 'delaying tactics': 1984 anti-Sikh riot victim

Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, convicted in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case, tried using "delaying tactics" by appealing to the Delhi High Court to extend his surrender deadline, a riot victim said Friday.

Nirpreet Kaur also said Kumar had been trying to escape punishment for 34 years but was caught.

The high court Friday dismissed Kumar's plea for extension of time till January 30 to surrender. On December 17, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and the court had asked him to surrender by December 31.

"He has been escaping justice for 34 years. He says he needs one month to settle his family, what was he doing for 34 years," Kaur said.

She said Kumar was trying to escape from punishment for his crimes, but has finally been "caught". But, "even now he is using delaying tactics", the riot victim said.

On December 17, Kumar had moved a plea seeking extension of time to surrender in the case.

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 during that period.

The riots had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards.