1984 anti-Sikh riots case: Sajjan Kumar surrenders in court, to be lodged in Mandoli jail
New Delhi, Dec 31: Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar on Monday surrendered before a court here to serve the life sentence awarded to him by the Delhi High Court in connection with a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
He surrendered before Metropolitan Magistrate Aditi Garg who directed that Kumar be lodged in Mandoli jail in northeast Delhi.
The court rejected Kumar's petition to be lodged in the high-security Tihar jail, but allowed his plea for security and directed the police to take him to the prison in a separate vehicle.
A lawyer present in the courtroom said the court considered Kumar's plea for security since there was a threat as he was also facing prosecution in another anti-Sikh riots case.
While declining his plea to be sent to Tihar jail, the court said he was being sent to Mandoli jail in accordance with the rule.
The HC had set a deadline of December 31 for Kumar to surrender and on December 21 declined his plea to extend the time by a month.
The 73-year former Congress leader has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the conviction and life sentence awarded by the HC.
The high court on December 17 convicted and sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment for the "remainder of his natural life". After his conviction, Kumar resigned from the Congress party.
The case in which Kumar was convicted and sentenced relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I area in Palam Colony of south west Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and burning down of a Gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II.
The riots had broken out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards.
Earlier in the day, former MLAs Kishan Khokhar and Mahender Yadav, who were also convicted in the same case, surrendered before the court to serve their 10-year jail term.
Besides Kumar, the others convicted in the case were former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal.
In its judgment, the high court had noted that over 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the national capital during the 1984 riots which was indeed a "carnage of unbelievable proportions".
It also said the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage" and aided by an "indifferent" law enforcement agency.
The high court had further said there has been a familiar pattern of mass killings since Partition, like in Mumbai in 1993, Gujarat in 2002 and Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh in 2013, and the "common" feature of each was the "targeting of minorities" with the attacks being "spearheaded by the dominant political actors, facilitated by law enforcement agencies".
The high court had set aside the trial court's 2010 verdict which had acquitted Kumar in the case.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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