NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have sought the death penalty for former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, convicted in the case of murder of a father-son duo during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, terming it a “rarest of rare” crime.
The prosecution filed a written submission before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja at Rouse Avenue Court, asserting that Kumar’s role in the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984, warranted the maximum punishment. The court deferred the hearing to February 21 after Kumar’s counsel sought time, citing a lawyers’ protest against the Advocate Amendment Bill, 2025.
Senior advocate H S Phoolka, representing the complainant, supported the demand for capital punishment and sought additional time for arguments. Kumar, currently lodged in Tihar Jail, has been facing trial for his alleged involvement in orchestrating mob violence following the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi.
According to the prosecution, on November 1, 1984, a mob allegedly led by Kumar attacked and killed Jaswant Singh and his son, Tarun Deep Singh, in West Delhi’s Raj Nagar area. The case was based on an FIR registered following a September 9, 1985, affidavit by a complainant whose identity was protected.
The Ministry of Home Affairs formed a Special Investigation Team in 2015 to revisit cases from the 1984 riots. The complainant later recorded her statement on November 23, 2016, leading to further proceedings.
Kumar was arrested in this case on April 6, 2021, while already serving a life sentence in a separate 1984 riots case in Tihar Jail. The prosecution contended that Kumar incited the mob to engage in large-scale violence, including rioting, arson, and looting.
This marks Sajjan Kumar’s second conviction in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, with two more cases still pending against him. Previously, the Delhi High Court sentenced him to life imprisonment for his role in the killings of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I, Palam Colony, on November 1-2, 1984, as well as for setting fire to a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part-II. His appeal challenging this conviction is currently awaiting a decision in the SC.
Meanwhile, two separate appeals challenging his acquittal in other riot-related cases are pending before the Delhi High Court. Kumar is also facing two trials in Delhi’s lower courts, including one involving violence near a Gurudwara in Gulab Bagh, Nawada, for which a judge formally charged him in August 2023. Another case concerning riots in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas is also under trial in a Delhi court.