Delhi Court Clears Sajjan Kumar in 1984 Riot Case Linked to Janakpuri, Vikaspuri Violence

New Delhi | 22 January 2026 A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the alleged incitement of violence in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas of the capital during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The verdict was delivered by Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh through a brief oral ruling. The court stated that a detailed written order will be issued later. The case dates back to complaints of violence reported during the riots that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In August 2023, the court had framed charges against Kumar for rioting and promoting enmity, while charges of murder and criminal conspiracy were dropped. Earlier, in February 2015, a special investigation team had registered two FIRs against him in connection with the incidents. One of the FIRs related to the Janakpuri area, where Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh were killed on November 1, 1984. The second FIR was linked to an incident in Vikaspuri, where Gurcharan Singh was allegedly set on fire on November 2, 1984. After examining the evidence and arguments, the court acquitted Kumar in this particular case. Sajjan Kumar, who is currently lodged in jail, was sentenced to life imprisonment on February 25 last year in a separate case connected to the killing of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Delhi’s Saraswati Vihar area on November 1, 1984. The court had then observed that although the killing of “two innocent persons” was a grave offence, it did not fall under the “rarest of rare case” category warranting the death penalty. That case was also considered a continuation of earlier riot-related violence, including the one in which Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2018 for the deaths of five people in Palam Colony. According to the Nanavati Commission report, which investigated the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a total of 587 FIRs were registered in Delhi, linked to the deaths of 2,733 people. Of these, around 240 FIRs were closed as “untraced”, while about 250 cases ended in acquittal. Only 28 cases resulted in convictions, with nearly 400 people found guilty, including around 50 individuals convicted on murder charges. Delhi Court Acquits Sajjan Kumar in 1984 Anti-Sikh Riot Case A Delhi court on Thursday cleared former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case linked to the alleged instigation of violence in the Janakpuri and Vikaspuri areas during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh pronounced the acquittal through a brief oral order, stating that a detailed judgment will be issued later. The case was based on two FIRs filed by a special investigation team in February 2015. These FIRs followed complaints related to riot violence in the two west Delhi localities. In August 2023, the court framed charges against Kumar for rioting and promoting enmity, while charges of murder and criminal conspiracy were dropped. One FIR pertained to the Janakpuri incident in which Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh were killed on November 1, 1984. The second FIR related to Vikaspuri, where Gurcharan Singh was allegedly set on fire on November 2, 1984. After hearing the matter, the court ruled in Kumar’s favour in this case. Sajjan Kumar, who is currently in jail, is already serving a life sentence awarded on February 25 last year in another 1984 riots case involving the deaths of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar. In that verdict, the court said the killing of “two innocent persons” was serious but did not qualify as the “rarest of rare case” for the death penalty. The case was also seen as part of the same chain of riot-related incidents for which Kumar was earlier convicted by the Delhi High Court in 2018.