Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress MP who was found guilty of killing five men during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that claimed thousands of lives, passed away on Thursday in a Delhi hospital. He was eighty. After being taken to Safdarjung Hospital, Kumar, who was serving a life sentence at Tihar jail, was pronounced dead by the medical staff. The cause of his death has not yet been made clear by the hospital.
Kumar, a well-known Congress leader, served three terms in the Lok Sabha as a representative for the Outer Delhi seat. Following his conviction in 2018, he left the party.
Following the October 31, 1984, assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, rioting broke out. Sikh homes and businesses in Delhi were attacked by groups of armed men. Nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed, primarily in the country’s capital.
Kumar was involved in several violent-related criminal cases over more than thirty years, with varying court rulings ranging from acquittals to convictions.
The Delhi High Court reversed a trial court’s 2013 decision clearing Kumar in the case on December 17, 2018. After that, he was found guilty and given a life sentence.
The case concerned the destruction of a gurdwara during the widespread rioting and the killing of five Sikh men at Raj Nagar Part-I, Palam Colony. Kumar was sentenced to serve the rest of his natural life in prison after the High Court found him guilty of criminal conspiracy and aiding and abetting. The court had referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh violence as “crimes against humanity” in its ruling. The Supreme Court is still considering Kumar’s appeal of his conviction and imprisonment.
In January of this year, a Delhi court cleared Kumar in two different cases involving accusations that he had incited violence during the 1984 riots in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri neighborhoods.
Kumar continued to serve life terms in other crimes related to the violence, so the acquittals did not lead to his release.
In the Saraswati Vihar case, the Rouse Avenue Court sentenced Kumar to another life sentence in February 2025. He was found guilty of participating in a mob violence that resulted in the alleged burning alive of Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh, a father and son.
Kumar was to be executed, according to the prosecution. However, taking into account his elderly age and health, the court sentenced him to life in prison.
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