New Delhi, August 20: Former Outer Delhi Member of Parliament Sajjan Kumar, who was serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died on Thursday after being taken ill. Hospital officials at Safdarjung Hospital confirmed his passing following his transfer from Tihar Jail.
Political observers noted that the convictions against the former lawmaker followed decades of legal proceedings.
“Sajjan Kumar was convicted of murder and abetment to murder in cases pertaining to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots,” officials stated regarding his legal record.
The three-time Lok Sabha MP was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2018 for abetting the murder of five Sikhs, which led to his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party. Last year, he received another life sentence in a separate case involving the murders of Jaswant Singh and his son on November 1, 1984, which was investigated by a Special Investigation Team established in 2015.
Kumar represented the Outer Delhi constituency as a Congress lawmaker until 2004. Although he was denied an election ticket in 2009 amid public protest, his brother Ramesh Kumar was fielded by the party and subsequently won the seat before losing in 2014.
