Ex-Congress MP Sajjan, convicted in 1984 anti-Sikh riots, dies at 80 in hospital

Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, died on Thursday at 80. Kumar, who was serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in riot-related cases, was declared brought dead at Safdarjung Hospital. Kumar, an influential Jat leader, was identified by the Delhi Police as the key instigator in the anti-Sikh riots that erupted across Delhi and parts of north India following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

Supreme Court was scheduled to hear his plea on Thursday seeking three-week parole on medical grounds concerning his ailing wife. The jailed former parliamentarian had approached the top court seeking parole for three weeks, citing the medical condition of his ailing wife.

“Sajjan Kumar, aged 84 years, was brought to VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital by police with altered sensorium around 11 am. He was immediately admitted and resuscitation measures were initiated,” the hospital said in a statement. “Despite providing all necessary medical and life-support measures, he could not be saved and passed away at 12:30 pm,” it said. “He was a known case of high blood pressure and Parkinson’s disease and had a history of multiple hospital admissions in the past,” the statement said. He was lodged in Tihar Jail.

For more than 30 years, Kumar was not named as an accused. Interestingly, Kumar’s name did not appear in the statements of several commissions that investigated the riots, including the Justice Rangnath Misra Commission and the Jain-Aggarwal panel. However, things changed in 2015 when the BJP government set up an SIT to re-examine closed anti-Sikh riot cases.

A three-term Lok Sabha member, Kumar represented the Outer Delhi constituency and had been a prominent Congress leader. He resigned from the party after his 2018 conviction. For over three decades, Kumar faced multiple criminal cases relating to the violence, with outcomes that swung between acquittals and convictions across different courts. 

On December 17, 2018, the Delhi High Court overturned a trial court’s 2013 verdict acquitting Kumar in the case. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The riots broke out after the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards - Satwant Singh and Beant Singh - on October 31, 1984. Groups of armed men targeted Sikhs across Delhi and attacked their houses and shops. Over 3,000 Sikhs were killed across India, mostly in the national capital.

Kumar began his political career as a municipal councillor from Delhi’s Nangloi in 1977. At the time, he was also the general secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee. He was among the close allies of Indira Gandhi’s younger son, Sanjay Gandhi. Kumar rose through the political ranks and won the Outer Delhi Lok Sabha seat in the 1980 elections. He defeated Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, Delhi’s first chief minister. However, the aftermath of the 1984 riots brought his political career to a halt after he was accused of being criminally responsible for the violence. He withdrew from public glare and continued contributing to the party from behind the scenes. After a long gap, he returned to active politics, winning re-election to the Lok Sabha for a second term in 1991, and again in 2004.

For more than three decades, Kumar faced several criminal cases linked to the violence. The cases saw different outcomes, including acquittals and convictions by various courts. In the Delhi Raj Nagar case, involving the killing of five members of a family and the burning of a gurudwara, the Delhi high court overturned a trial court’s acquittal on December 17, 2018. It convicted Kumar and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Earlier this year, in January, a Delhi court acquitted Kumar in two separate cases concerning allegations that he had incited violence in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas during the 1984 riots.

However, the acquittals did not result in his release, as Kumar continued to serve life sentences in other cases connected with the violence.

In February 2025, the Rouse Avenue Court handed Kumar another life sentence in the Saraswati Vihar case. He was convicted for his involvement in a mob attack in which a father and son, Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh, were allegedly burned alive.

The prosecution had sought the death penalty for Kumar. However, the court awarded him life imprisonment, considering factors including his advanced age and health condition.