1984 anti-Sikh riots: Delhi court acquits Sajjan Kumar in Vikaspuri, Janakpuri violence case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case related to inciting violence in Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas in the national capital during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh orally pronounced a brief order acquitting Kumar. A reasoned order is awaited.
In August 2023, a court had charged Kumar with rioting and promoting enmity, while discharging him of murder and criminal conspiracy offences.
In February 2015, a special investigation team registered two FIRs against Kumar based on complaints of violence in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas during the riots.
The first FIR was over the violence in Janakpuri, where two men -- Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh -- were killed on November 1, 1984.
The second FIR was registered in the case of Gurcharan Singh, who was allegedly set ablaze on November 2, 1984, in Vikaspuri.
Kumar, who is presently in jail, was awarded life imprisonment on February 25 last year by a trial court in a case regarding the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984, in the Saraswati Vihar area.
It had said that though the killings of "two innocent persons" in the case were no less an offence, it was not a "rarest of rare case" warranting the imposition of the death penalty.
The trial court had also said that the case at hand was part of the same incident and could be seen as a continuity of the incident for which Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018.
The high court had found him guilty of having caused the death of five people during a similar incident of rioting in the Palam Colony area, post the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
According to a report of the Nanavati Commission -- constituted to probe the violence and its aftermath -- there were 587 FIRs filed in Delhi in relation to the riots that saw killings of 2,733 people. Of the total, about 240 FIRs were closed by police as "untraced", and 250 cases resulted in acquittal.
Of the 587 FIRs, only 28 resulted in convictions, in which about 400 people were convicted. About 50 people, including the former MP, were convicted of murder.
Kumar, an influential Congress leader and an MP at the time, was accused in a case related to the killing of five people in Delhi's Palam Colony on November 1 and 2, 1984.
He was awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in the case, and his appeal challenging the punishment is pending before the Supreme Court.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Vijay unable to prove majority, not invited for CM oath ceremony: Sources
Chennai: Actor-politician Vijay has reportedly not been invited to take oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after failing to demonstrate support from the required number of MLAs, sources in Raj Bhavan said.
According to media reports that quoted sources in the office of R.N. Ravi Arlekar, Vijay could not prove the backing of 118 legislators, the majority mark in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Despite last-minute efforts to secure support from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazagam (AMMK), and an IUML legislator, Vijay reportedly managed support from only 116 MLAs, falling short by two members.
Sources said Vijay failed to submit letters of support from the VCK and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
Later, the IUML issued a statement clarifying that it was not part of the TVK-led alliance.
Meanwhile, AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran is also said to have informed the Governor that his party would support the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) instead.
Earlier in the evening, Vijay had met Governor Arlekar and staked claim to form the government, stating that he enjoyed the support of 118 MLAs.
