The Delhi High Court on Monday sentenced former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment for involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom, setting December 31 as the deadline for his surrender.
The court was hearing a case related to the killing of five members of a family in Raj Nagar and the torching of a gurdwara in the Delhi Cantonment area on November 1, 1984. Kumar, 73, was found guilty and convicted after the bench an earlier trial court order acquitting him of the charges. The High Court on Monday not only reversed the but also slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him.
The previous ruling had convicted former Congress , Balwan Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, three others in the Raj Nagar case. Kumar was not allowed to contest elections nor has he held public office since then.
What the bench said
“It is important to assure the victims that despite the challenges truth will prevail,” the High Court said in its 203-page order.
“What happened in the aftermath of the assassination of the then-Prime Minister was carnage of unbelievable proportions in which over 2,700 Sikhs were murdered in Delhi alone,” justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said, further noting, “The law and order machinery clearly broke down and it was literally a free for all situation which persisted.”
“The aftershock of those atrocities is still being felt,” the judges also proclaimed, commenting on the “communal frenzy” that followed and never really left.
What happened in 1984?
During the partition in 1947, India had witnessed horrific mass crimes resulting in the massacre of several lakhs of civilians, including Sikhs, Muslims Hindus. Thirty-seven years later, the country witnessed another enormous human tragedy when at least 3,000 people were brutally murdered by mobs of Congress leaders who targeted the Sikh community shortly after the assassination of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31. For four days between November 1 to November 4, Delhi and a few other states were charged up with anti-Sikh sentiments fuelled by local Congress units.
Victims like Jagdish Kaur and Nirpreet Kaur had been fighting for justice for 34 years, despite systematic intimidation and harassment. Both of them had witnessed their family members being immolated during the fateful pogrom and wept by the end of Monday’s hearing. They were among the numerous survivors who deposed their eyewitness accounts in court about Congress leaders who took part in the pogrom.
Previous hearings
The Delhi High Court had on November 28 convicted 89 arsonists and rioters who took part in a carnage in Delhis Trilokpuri, 34 years after the incident and 22 years after the trial court verdict.
Sajjan Kumar is the first high-ranking leader to be convicted, which arrived just as three states were swearing in Congress’ recently victorious legislators as their Chief Ministers. The latest High Court judgment was pronounced on the appeal challenging the Congress leader’s acquittal by the Karkardooma trial court.
On prosecuting mass crimes
Besides delivering their verdict in the Sajjan Kumar case, the court also pointed to existing legal loopholes that make it difficult to prosecute mass crimes against humanity and allow perpetrators to get off scot-free.
Noting the law enforcement’s failure in reining in the criminals responsible for instigating the mob, the court said, “The criminals responsible for the mass crimes have enjoyed political patronage and managed to evade prosecution and punishment” for too long.
“Common to the instances of mass crimes are the targeting of minorities and the attacks spearheaded by the dominant political actors facilitated by the law enforcement agencies,” the judges declared, adding that the trial court had erred miserably by acquitting Sajjan Kumar in 2013.
Response
BJP lawmakers weighed in with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying, “This was the worst kind of genocide. Thousands of innocents were burnt and killed by mobs led by Congress leaders. Instead of ensuring justice, the Congress government indulged in a cover-up.”
“We welcome the judgment; however, we hoped for a death sentence for Kumar,” said BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal fired back at the BJP, asking “What about the PM (Narendra Modi), who encouraged (riot accused) Maya Kodnani, who was jailed in the 2002 Gujarat riots (she was acquitted in April).”
Kumar is likely to move the Supreme Court against the verdict, his lawyer Anil Sharma told reporters, adding that there is no case or evidence against the former Congress MP.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius