New Delhi:
Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday for his involvement in the murders of two individuals during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
Here’s a timeline of events leading to the conclusion of the case.
*1991: FIR filed in the case.
*July 8, 1994: Delhi court finds insufficient evidence to initiate prosecution. Kumar is not chargesheeted in the case.
*February 12, 2015: Government forms a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
*November 21, 2016: SIT informs the court that the case requires further investigation.
*April 6, 2021: Kumar is arrested.
*May 5, 2021: Police file chargesheet.
*July 26: Court takes cognizance of the chargesheet.
*October 1: Court begins hearing arguments on charges.
*December 16: Court frames charges of murder, rioting, and other offenses.
*January 31, 2024: Court begins hearing final arguments.
*November 8: Court reserves verdict.
*February 12, 2025: Court convicts Kumar.
*February 25: Kumar is sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to a report by the Nanavati Commission, which was formed to investigate the violence and its aftermath, 587 FIRs were filed in Delhi related to the riots, during which 2,733 people were killed. Of these, about 240 FIRs were closed by the police as “untraced,” and 250 cases resulted in acquittals.
Only 28 out of the 587 FIRs resulted in convictions, with approximately 400 individuals convicted. About 50 of these were convicted for murder, including Kumar.
Kumar, a prominent Congress leader and MP at the time, was also accused in a case involving the killings of five individuals in Delhi’s Palam Colony on November 1 and 2, 1984. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in that case, and his appeal challenging the sentence is pending before the Supreme Court.
Another appeal is pending before the Delhi High Court against Kumar’s acquittal by a trial court, while a Delhi court is currently conducting a trial in a fourth case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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