Anti-Sikh Riots Case: On Last Day Of HC Deadline, Senior Congress Leader Sajjan Kumar Surrenders Before Court

Senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar on Monday surrendered before a Delhi court to serve life sentence in connection with an anti-Sikh riots case, The Tribune has reported. He was convicted by the Delhi High Court recently and has now surrendered before Metropolitan Magistrate Aditi Garg.

The case in which Sajjan Kumar was convicted relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part I area of Palam Colony in southwest Delhi in November 1984. He was also convicted for burning down a Gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part II area.

The 73-year-old Congress leader was sentenced to life for the “remainder of his natural life” by the Delhi High Court on 17 December. It had set the deadline as 31 December for him to surrender. On 21 December, his plea to extend the time of his surrender by a month was declined by the High Court. Sajjan Kumar has now filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the conviction and life sentence awarded by the Delhi High Court.

The anti-Sikh riots had broken out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, by her Sikh bodyguards.