New Delhi | The Delhi High Court on Monday convicting Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case called that the riots were a crime against humanity.
Announcing the verdict the Court said, “The mass killings of Sikhs between 1st and 4th November 1984 in Delhi and the rest of the country, engineered by political actors with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies, answer the description of “crimes against humanity.”
Speaking about the incident, the Court said, “What happened in the aftermath of the assassination of the then PM was carnage of unbelievable proportions in which over 2,700 Sikhs were murdered in Delhi alone. Law&order clearly broke down&it was literally a free for all situation. Aftershocks of that still being felt.”
Pointing the failures to frame cases against Sajjan Kumar, the bench said, “It was an extraordinary case where it was going to be impossible to proceed against Sajjan Kumar in the normal scheme of things as there appeared to be ongoing large-scale efforts to suppress cases against him by not even recording them”.”Even if they were registered they weren’t investigated properly&investigations which saw any progress weren’t carried to the logical end of a charge sheet actually being filed. Even defence doesn’t dispute that as far as FIR is concerned, a closure report had been prepared,” the bench added.
The Delhi High Court on Monday has sentenced Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case and has asked Kumar to surrender by 31st December 2018. The High Court has reversed the judgement of the trial court which acquitted Kumar earlier. Along with Sajjan Kumar, Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and former Congress councilor Balwan Khokhar have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Kishan Khokkar and former legislator Mahender Yadav have been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Reading the judgement the High Court said,” “In the summer of 1947, during partition, several people were massacred. 37 years later Delhi was the witness of a similar tragedy. The accused enjoyed political patronage and escaped trial.”
Sajjan Kumar is convicted in the 1984 Anti Sikh riot which was ignited after the assassination of Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards. Around 2800 people belonging to the Sikh community were killed in India during the anti-Sikh riots. The Delhi High Court earlier on 14 August 2018 started hearing appeals filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and victims against Sajjan Kumar acquittal in the Anti Sikh Riots of 1984in Delhi.
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