1984 anti-Sikh riots: Sajjan Kumar to appear before court in 2nd case today

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted on Monday in one of the cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, will appear before Delhi's Patiala House Court at 10 am today in the second case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The second case against Kumar was filed by the CBI on the recommendation of the Nanavati Commission.

After over three decades, the Delhi High Court had on Monday convicted Sajjan Kumar in one of the cases related to the riots and sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.

The court held the violence was a "crime against humanity" engineered by politicians with assistance from police.

The Cases were filed against Kumar on charges of murder and rioting in relation to the killing of individuals in Delhi's Sultanpuri area in the aftermath of the 1984 riots.

The riots occurred after the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards.

The witness, Cham Kaur, had on November 16 identified Kumar before the court as one who had allegedly instigated the mob to kill Sikhs.

Kaur had told the court that she had seen Kumar allegedly addressing the crowd in national capital's Sultanpuri area in 1984 that Sikhs had killed "our mother" and instigated the mob to kill them.

Before Kaur, another key prosecution witness Sheela Kaur had identified Kumar as the one who had instigated the mob in Sultanpuri.

The case was transferred from the Karkardooma court to the Patiala House court here by the Delhi High Court, which had directed the district judge to video record the proceedings at the cost of the accused.

Setting aside the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar, the Delhi High Court convicted him and five others saying that the "criminals" had escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.

Kumar was asked to surrender by December 31 and directed not to leave Delhi. He will challenge the order of the Delhi High Court in the Supreme Court, his counsel Anil Kumar Sharma said.

A day after he was sentenced to life imprisonment, Kumar resigned from the Congress' primary membership, citing the ruling of the Delhi High Court.

According to official records, about 2,800 Sikhs were killed across India, including 2,100 in Delhi, during the clashes, which broke out after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards.