New Delhi, 24 April (H.S.):

The Supreme Court of India has denied bail to Sajjan Kumar, the former Congress MP serving a life sentence for his role in the 1984 anti‑Sikh riots. Kumar had sought bail on grounds of prolonged incarceration and the deteriorating health of his wife, telling the court that he has been in prison for over seven years and has not been able to visit or meet her even once.

The bench, however, rejected the plea and stated that the challenge to his life sentence by the Delhi High Court would be heard in July, indicating that the question of bail is premature while the main appeal remains pending.

Sajjan Kumar was originally convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Rouse Avenue Sessions Court in February 2005 for the killings of Sardar Jaswant Singh and Sardar Tarun Deep Singh on November 1, 1984, in the Raj Nagar locality of West Delhi.

According to the complainants, on the evening of that day, around 4.00–4.30 p.m., a mob armed with iron rods and lathis attacked the victims’ residence in Raj Nagar, and the mob was led by Sajjan Kumar, who was then a Congress Member of Parliament from Outer Delhi.

The same incident also formed the basis of the larger conspiracy charges under which the Delhi High Court, on December 17, 2018, upheld life sentences for several accused, including Kumar, and affirmed the punishment awarded by the trial court to former naval officer Bhag Mal, former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, Girdhari Lal and two others.

In a separate case arising from the 1984 violence in the Janakpuri area, the Raouse Avenue Court had acquitted Sajjan Kumar on January 22, 2026, in the communal‑violence charges linked to that locality.

The survivor‑complainant, Manjeet Kaur, had stated in her testimony that she had heard from the mob that Sajjan Kumar was present among them, but that she had not seen him with her own eyes. Despite this acquittal, Kumar remains in custody, serving the life term imposed by the High Court in the Raj Nagar murder case, and the Supreme Court’s latest order reaffirms that he is not entitled to bail at this stage of the proceedings.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar