Sajjan Kumar acquitted in ’84 riots case, will remain in jail

Although Kumar has been acquitted in this case, he will remain in Tihar Jail as he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in 2018 in another case related to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part I in Palam Colony on November 1-2, 1984, and the burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part II.

Charges were framed against Kumar in the Sultanpuri case in 2010 in a Karkardooma court. The CBI had taken up the case on the recommendations of Justice Nanavati Commission in 2005 and filed chargesheet against Kumar and others in January 2010. The other accused, Brahmanand Gupta, Peru, Khushal Singh and Ved Prakash, were also charged with murder, arson and rioting among other offences.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up in February 2015 on the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs to re-investigate closed cases related to the 1984 riots, had registered two FIRs based on complaints about the killings in Janakpuri and Vikaspuri.

A Delhi court had earlier this year dropped charges of murder and criminal conspiracy against Kumar in these two cases, but the charges of rioting with deadly weapons, promoting enmity between different groups, and attempting to commit culpable homicide were framed.

Besides 1984, another case is pending against Kumar. He was charged in 2021 for the murder of a man and his son in West Delhi’s Saraswati Vihar. A trial court, in April last year, had granted bail to Kumar in the case. Later, the Centre had moved the High Court seeking cancellation of the bail. In July last year, the HC stayed the bail order after the Centre argued that releasing him may hamper the evidence.

Senior Advocate Anil Kumar Sharma and Advocate Anuj Sharma, representing Kumar in multiple cases, told The Indian Express that following the acquittal in Rouse Avenue, three cases are currently pending against Kumar — two in Rouse Avenue District Court and one in Supreme Court.