New Delhi, Jan 22: A Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases involving violence in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas. Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh delivered the verdict after having reserved the order in December following the conclusion of final arguments from both the prosecution and the defense.
The legal proceedings focused on two separate incidents that occurred during the communal violence in the national capital. The first case involved the deaths of Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh, who were killed in Janakpuri on Nov. 1, 1984. The second case pertained to the burning of Gurcharan Singh in the Vikaspuri area the following day.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had registered the FIRs against Kumar in February 2015 after reviewing complaints regarding the decades-old violence. During the trial, the defense argued that there was a lack of credible evidence linking the former lawmaker to the specific acts of violence mentioned in the charges.
“The prosecution has failed to prove the case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” the court noted while passing the judgment. This decision comes after a lengthy judicial process that saw multiple testimonies and the examination of SIT records. While Kumar remains in custody due to convictions in other riot-related cases, this specific acquittal marks the conclusion of the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri trials.
