Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, Serving Life Term in 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case, Dies at 80

Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, convicted in a case linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died at a Delhi hospital on Thursday at the age of 80. Kumar, who had been serving a life sentence at Tihar Jail, was taken to Safdarjung Hospital after his condition deteriorated. Doctors declared him dead on arrival. The hospital has yet to officially state the cause of death. A three-time Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi, Kumar was once a prominent Congress leader. He left the party following his conviction in 2018.

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots erupted after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, on October 31 that year. Widespread violence followed in Delhi and other parts of India, with armed mobs attacking Sikh families, homes and businesses. More than 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs in Delhi, were killed during the violence.

Kumar remained involved in several legal cases arising from the riots for more than three decades. His legal history included both acquittals and convictions at different stages. On December 17, 2018, the Delhi High Court overturned a 2013 trial court acquittal in one of the key cases against Kumar. The High Court convicted him for criminal conspiracy and abetment and sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.

The case concerned the killing of five Sikh men in Raj Nagar Part-I of Palam Colony and the burning of a gurdwara during the riots. In its judgment, the High Court described the 1984 violence as “crimes against humanity.” Kumar later challenged his conviction and sentence in the Supreme Court, where the matter remained pending at the time of his death.

In January this year, a Delhi court acquitted Kumar in two separate cases involving allegations that he had incited violence in Janakpuri and Vikaspuri during the 1984 riots. The acquittals, however, did not lead to his release because he was still serving life sentences in other cases related to the violence. Kumar received another life sentence in February 2025 in the Saraswati Vihar case. The Rouse Avenue Court convicted him over his alleged role in a mob attack in which a father and son, Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh, were reportedly burned alive. The prosecution had requested the death penalty, but the court imposed life imprisonment, taking into account Kumar’s advanced age and health condition.

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