Ex-Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, convicted in anti-Sikh riots case, dies
What's the story
Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress Member of Parliament and convict in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, died on Thursday at a Delhi hospital. He was 80. Kumar was serving life imprisonment at Tihar Jail. The former MP was brought dead to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. The Delhi High Court had convicted him for his role in inciting violence during the riots that followed then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.
Legal proceedings
Kumar sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018
The court had sentenced him to life imprisonment on 17 December 2018 for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide, having been convicted for the murders of five family members.
He resigned from the Congress party the same month.
An appeal against this punishment is still pending with the Supreme Court.
On February 25, 2025, a trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment for the killing of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep in Delhi's Saraswati Vihar area.
Legal developments
Kumar acquitted in 2 other cases
However, in January this year, a Delhi court had acquitted Kumar in two other cases related to inciting violence during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, citing a lack of credible evidence and failure by the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
These incidents took place in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas of Delhi.
Case
3,000 Sikhs were killed
Former Prime Minister Indira was assassinated in October 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, in retaliation for her decision to send the army to flush out Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine, in Amritsar in June 1984.
The Indian government estimates that about 3,000 Sikhs were killed in the riots following her death, but human rights groups believe the total is closer to 4,000.
Apology
PM Manmohan Singh apologized for role of Congress party leaders
In the 10 days that followed the assassination, New Delhi witnessed horrific scenes of violence.
In 2025, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apologized for the role of Congress party leaders in the violence.
"On behalf of our government, on behalf of the entire people of this country, I bow my head in shame that such a thing took place," Singh had said in parliament.