Crime broke fibre of trust, harmony amongst communities: Prosecution seeks death penalty for Sajjan Kumar in murder of father-son during 1984 riots

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was probing this case, had alleged that Kumar led a mob that burnt alive the two Sikh men — Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh — and destroyed and looted their houses acting on his directions.

On Tuesday, the SIT represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat gave written submissions to Special Judge Kaveri Baweja.

A crime like this, argued the SIT, “severely affects the knitting and assimilation of different religious or social groups.” Requesting that Kumar be given the death penalty, APP Rawat wrote that this case fulfilled the criteria of being a “rarest of rare” case.

“The murders of Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh were committed in an extremely brutal, diabolical manner so as to shock the collective conscience of the society. The impact on the psychology of the survivor victims i.e. PW11, PW12 and PW13 (the three main prosecution witnesses) can be seen from their demeanor recorded during their testimonies… even after 39 years, they were weeping inconsolably,” submitted APP Rawat in his written statements.

The impact and magnitude of the crime in this case was so enormous, that it could be called a “crime against the community and involved genocide of the members of a particular community,” alleged Rawat in the submissions.

Kumar is currently lodged in Tihar Jail where he is serving a life sentence handed down by the Delhi High Court in 2018 in a case related to the killing of five Sikhs at Raj Nagar Part I in Palam Colony on November 1-2, 1984, and the burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part II.

In September 2023, a Delhi court acquitted Kumar in a case related to the murder of seven people from the Sikh community in Sultanpuri during the 1984 riots. One case is pending against Kumar in the Rouse Avenue court, two appeals against his acquittals are pending in the High Court, and an appeal against his conviction in one case is pending in the Supreme Court.

Widespread riots broke out in Delhi and other parts of the country after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was murdered by her two Sikh bodyguards in retaliation to her ordering the Army to storm the Golden Temple at Amritsar in June 1984 to flush out militants.