New Delhi, April 24: The Supreme Court on Friday announced it will hear the appeal of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in July, following a request to challenge his life sentence in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The 80-year-old, who has been incarcerated since December 2018, surrendered after the Delhi High Court overturned a lower court’s acquittal and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Appearing before a bench comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar, senior advocate Gopal Shankarnarayanan stated that Kumar has served more than seven years and four months in jail. The advocate affirmed that the convict has never sought parole or any other form of relief during his time in Tihar Jail. He maintained that the appeal carries urgency due to the deteriorating health of Kumar’s wife, noting that the former leader has not seen her since his imprisonment.
The case involves the murder of five individuals in the Palam Colony area and the burning of a Gurdwara in southwest Delhi during the violence following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Sajjan Kumar faces further legal challenges, as a separate court sentenced him to a second life term in February 2025 for a murder case in the Saraswati Vihar area.
The bench decided to list the matter for the final week of July, following the court’s summer recess. Approximately 3,000 people were killed during the 1984 riots, and the current legal proceedings represent a significant chapter in the long-standing judicial effort to address the violence.
