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.
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No confusion in BJP-JD(S) alliance: Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday dismissed speculation over confusion in the BJP-JD(S) alliance, asserting that there was clarity within them and that discussions on the chief minister post were premature.
Addressing reporters at the party's state office, JP Bhavan, after chairing a preparatory meeting for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, he said the immediate priority was to remove what he termed an "anti-people government" in the state and to strengthen the alliance to face upcoming polls.
"This is not the time to discuss who should become the chief minister. There is still time for that. If we speak about it now, it would be like stitching the cradle even before the baby is born," Kumaraswamy said, underlining that leadership questions would be taken up at an appropriate time.
The JD(S) second-in-command said there is still a lot of work to be done and it was not appropriate to speak about such matters now.
"On the issue of alliance, both I and our party are open-minded. When the time comes, we will discuss it on the party platform and take a decision. There is no confusion regarding the alliance, and there will be no confusion in the future. This is my stand," Kumaraswamy said.
"There is a bad government in the state. My objective is to remove it and bring in a pro-people government. Removing this corrupt and bad government is my agenda. The JD(S) and BJP parties will work together to accomplish this task," he added.
Reiterating his stand, Kumaraswamy said, "My objective is to remove the anti-people government in the state. I have been saying this from the beginning."
On reports of internal differences over the alliance and the CM's position, the union minister said he would not respond to every statement made by individuals.
"Some people are speaking about the alliance and the chief minister's position. I do not feel the need to respond to them. If I start answering each of them, people may think I lack maturity. Therefore, I will not speak about it. We will strengthen the alliance together, face the elections together, and bring a pro-people government," he said.
Kumaraswamy added that discussions within parties were natural and not final.
He said there were still two years left for the Assembly elections while there were four to five months left for the local body elections.
The union minister said the JD(S) is also preparing for the municipal elections in Bengaluru city just as other parties.
He clarified that there had been no discussions so far between the two parties specifically on local body or GBA elections.
Earlier, the JD(S) leader chaired a meeting with Members of the Legislative Council, former MLAs and other leaders of his party to review preparations for the GBA elections.
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