New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday (February 20) disposed of a plea challenging bail granted to former Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case after it was informed that he was convicted in the case.
A city court on February 12 convicted Kumar under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including murder and rioting in a case pertaining to the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar area in the national capital during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
SIT challenged bail granted to Kumar and sought setting aside of the trial court order
Justice Vikas Mahajan took note of the development and disposed of the plea challenging bail granted to Kumar as being infructuous.
“The Central government standing counsel for the petitioner (SIT) submits that during the pendency of the petition, the respondent (Kumar) has been convicted in the case and formally taken into custody. Therefore, this petition has become infructuous,” the court said.
The SIT challenged bail granted to Kumar and sought setting aside of the trial court’s April 27, 2022 bail order.
The High Court had on July 4, 2022 stayed the trial court order and had issued notice to Kumar and sought his response.
Trial court is yet to pass order on quantum of sentence
The trial court is yet to pass an order on the quantum of sentence in the case.
The prosecution has sought death sentence for Kumar, calling it “rarest of rare” crime.
The trial court on February 18 deferred the matter to February 21 after the counsel representing Kumar sought time to argue the matter, stating that lawyers were abstaining from work on Tuesday in protest of the Advocate Amendment Bill, 2025.
Kumar was earlier convicted in another 1984 anti-Sikh riots case
Kumar was earlier sentenced for life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in 2018 for his role in the killings of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar, Palam Colony and the burning of a Gurdwara and he is currently serving the sentence in Tihar Jail.
