Sajjan Kumar, the rise and fall of a Congress strongman convicted in anti-Sikh riots

Kumar faced a host of cases in connection with the riots and was charged with instigating his supporters following Indira Gandhi’s assassination. He was also accused of extending political patronage to the rioters. The CBI accused him and four others of killing six Sikh men during the communal violence. However, a trial court acquitted him in 2013, refusing to convict him solely based on the eyewitness testimony of the complainant, Jagdish Kaur, who lost her husband, son and three brothers in the violence.

In December 2018, the Delhi High Court, ruling on one of the anti-Sikh riots cases, reversed a trial court order and sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment on charges ranging from murder to criminal conspiracy. The court had clarified that imprisonment for life means “the remainder of his natural life”.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at the Congress over the conviction, and said that four years ago no one could have imagined that a Congress leader would get convicted in the “1984 Sikh massacre”.

In 2025, Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of leading a mob that burned alive Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984. He was also found guilty of looting and destroying their houses.

Earlier in January, Kumar was acquitted in a case related to inciting violence in Delhi’s Janakpuri for which an FIR was lodged in 1992. He was the only accused in the case. A separate FIR had been filed over the alleged killing of two men, Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh, in Vikaspuri. A joint chargesheet covering both cases was filed in 2022. In 2023, Kumar was discharged in the Vikaspuri case, in which he had faced a murder charge.

Inquiry commission findings

The Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry that looked into the riots and the failure of the authorities to investigate them recorded “credible material” against Kumar and concluded that he was “probably involved” in the attacks described by several witnesses.

The commission examined affidavits, police records and testimony concerning attacks on Sikhs and their properties across Delhi. It offered one of the most detailed official accounts of allegations against Kumar, describing him as a powerful local Congress leader who was allegedly present at, addressed or directed mobs in parts of west Delhi, including Palam Colony, Raj Nagar, Mangolpuri, and Sultanpuri.

Jagdish Kaur of Raj Nagar told the commission that she heard Kumar tell people gathered near Mandir Mangolpuri, “Sardar saala koi nahi bachna chahida (no Sikh should be spared)”.

The commission also recorded evidence that Kumar addressed a crowd in Mangolpuri and said Sikhs had killed “their Maata”, after which people raised slogans calling for Sikhs to be killed. The report said three Sikh men were subsequently burnt alive in an attack on a gurdwara in the locality.

In its assessment of Kumar’s role, it said: “Many witnesses have stated about the involvement of S/Shri Sajjan Kumar, Balwan Khokar, Pratap Singh, Maha Singh and Mohinder Singh.”