Former MP Sajjan Kumar Convicted In The 1984 Riots Passes Away

Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar died on Thursday at the age of 80. He was serving life sentence in Tihar Jail, Delhi. On 14 December 2018, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. He challenged the decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court but his petition was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Sajjan Kumar was granted bail in a case related to the riots on April 27, 2022, but remained in jail due to his conviction in another case. He was lodged in Tihar jail for seven years. In the month of April this year, he had sought bail from the Supreme Court to meet his ailing wife but the court refused to grant him bail.

In 2013, the Delhi High Court had overturned the decision of the lower court acquitting Sajjan Kumar. Earlier, the Rouse Avenue court had acquitted Sajjan Kumar in the Janakpuri, Vikaspuri violence case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Two people had died in this violence. After the matter came to light again, the SIT had registered two FIRs against Sajjan Kumar and other accused in February 2015.

The first FIR was related to the murder of Sardar Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh on November 1, 1984 in Janakpuri. The second FIR was registered in Janakpuri on 2 November 1984 for the incident of killing Sardar Gurcharan Singh by burning him alive.

In these cases, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar had recorded his statement in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on 7 July 2025. He had said that he was never involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots; There is no evidence against him. He had accused the investigating agency of not conducting a fair investigation.

Sajjan Kumar was already serving life imprisonment in another 1984 riots case. The Delhi High Court had convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case of murder of five Sikhs and burning of a Gurudwara in Delhi Cantt and Palam Colony area.