Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was serving a life sentence for his role in cases arising from the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died on Thursday at the age of 80.
Kumar was lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail when his health condition deteriorated. He was subsequently shifted to Safdarjung Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. He had been undergoing treatment for health-related complications.
Kumar, once a prominent Congress leader in Delhi, represented the Outer Delhi constituency in the Lok Sabha. His political career, however, was eventually overshadowed by criminal proceedings concerning the violence that erupted in the national capital following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
In December 2018, the Delhi High Court reversed Kumar’s acquittal by a trial court and convicted him in a case concerning the killing of five members of a Sikh family in Raj Nagar, Delhi, and the burning of a nearby gurdwara during the 1984 violence. The High Court sentenced him to imprisonment for life.
The court’s verdict was regarded as a significant development in a prosecution that had remained pending for several decades. Kumar subsequently challenged the conviction before the Supreme Court. His appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment remained pending, while the Court had earlier declined to suspend his sentence.
In another case connected with the 1984 violence, a Delhi trial court in February 2025 convicted Kumar for the killings of two Sikh men in Saraswati Vihar and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The prosecution had alleged that Kumar was part of a mob responsible for the attacks during the communal violence.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Delhi witnessed widespread attacks against members of the Sikh community, with thousands of people losing their lives across the country. The allegations surrounding the violence resulted in multiple inquiries and criminal prosecutions over the following decades.
Kumar’s legal proceedings continued for years amid demands from victims and survivors for accountability. His conviction in 2018 represented one of the most prominent prosecutions of a former political leader in connection with the 1984 violence.
At the time of his death, Kumar remained in custody while serving his sentences in the cases arising from the riots. His death at 80 brings to an end his decades-long legal battle over his alleged involvement in the violence that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
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