Anti-Sikh riots in 1984: The CBI disagrees with Sajjan Kumar’s SC vacation request

Former Congress politician Sajjan Kumar, who is serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, has filed a furlough request, but the CBI has rejected it, claiming that Kumar is attempting an unfair appeal to be released from jail.

In an affidavit filed on Friday, the CBI informed the top court that “there is no reason to believe the undertaking of the petitioner/convict to abide by and fulfil all the terms and conditions of furlough as may be imposed by this court,” given that the petitioner/convict was involved in a major incident that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Sikh people.

“There is no certainty or guarantee that the petitioner/convict, having been convicted of heinous crimes, may not abscond if he is granted furlough for two weeks,” the CBI said in its submission.

It also refuted his assertion of “good behavior.” “Kumar’s normal roll indicates that he had a history of misbehaving with the supporting staff while he was staying at RML Hospital in Kharja. As a result, he was disciplined by stopping his’mulakat’ for a period of 15 days,” the agency said.

Two weeks later, a bench presided over by Justice KJ Maheshwari scheduled a hearing on the subject since the CBI’s answer to Kumar’s furlough request was not on file.

Since his surrender on December 31, 2018, Kumar (78) has been incarcerated. He was found guilty and given a life sentence in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case by the Delhi High Court. Following the death of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, there were riots in the nation’s capital that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people, the majority of them Sikhs.

In November and December of 1984, five Sikhs were killed in the Raj Nagar part-I neighborhood of Palam Colony in South West Delhi, and a gurdwara in Raj Nagar part II was set on fire. This was the subject of the case in which Kumar was found guilty and given a life sentence.

On September 4, 2020, the Supreme Court denied Kumar’s request for bail, stating, “This is not a small case.” Since then, it has refused to expand him, even for medical reasons, claiming that he cannot be treated like a super VIP patient since he has been found guilty of horrible acts.

The Supreme Court was still considering Kumar’s appeal against the Delhi High Court’s decision from December 17, 2018, which sentenced him to life in jail for the “remainder of his natural life.”