NEW DELHI: After a Delhi court sentenced former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case on Tuesday, Senior Advocate HS Phoolka said that the court has awarded the maximum imprisonment possible.
Phoolka said that the Judge did not award capital punishment to Sajjan Kumar, citing his age and illness as factors. “Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court has awarded life imprisonment to Sajjan Kumar in two cases – murder and setting houses on fire…In the judgement, the judge has written that capital punishment has not been awarded as Sajjan Kumar is 80 years old and is suffering from various diseases…The Judge has awarded the maximum imprisonment possible…”,” he said while speaking to ANI.
Meanwhile, Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) General Secretary Jagdip Singh Kahlon expressed disappointment on Tuesday, saying that Sajjan Kumar was not given a death sentence in the case. Speaking to the media, Kahlon said that justice would have been served even if Kumar had received life imprisonment.
“We are upset that someone like Sajjan Kumar was not given the death penalty. I believe that if he had been sentenced to death, it would have been better, and we would have felt satisfied. However, after 41 years, even though he received life imprisonment, justice has prevailed. I respect the court’s verdict,” Kahlon said.
Earlier in the day, a Delhi court sentenced Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment in connection with the killing of a father-son duo in the Saraswati Vihar area during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. This followed his conviction on February 12 for their murders. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja sentenced Sajjan Kumar for the offence of murder (302) read with unlawful assembly (149) IPC.
The 1984 riots erupted following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, leading to the killing of at least 2,800 people in the national capital alone. (ANI)