{{Short description|Indian politician (born 1945)}} {{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox politician | name = Sajjan Kumar | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|9|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Delhi, British India | death_date = | death_place = | office1 = Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | constituency3 = Outer Delhi | term1 = 1980 – 1984 | predecessor1 = Chaudhary Brahm Prakash | successor1 = Chaudhary Bharat Singh | office2 = | constituency2 = | term2 = 1991 – 1996 | predecessor2 = Tarif Singh | successor2 = Krishan Lal Sharma | term3 = 2004 – 2009 | predecessor3 = Sahib Singh Verma | successor3 = | party = Indian National Congress (1980–2018) | children = | website = | footnotes = | date =
| | year =
| | source = https://loksabha.nic.in/Members/MemberBioprofile.aspx?mpsno=2871&lastls=14 | known_for = Life imprisonment for inciting and abetting mobs during the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide }} '''Sajjan Kumar''' (born 23 September 1945) is a former Indian politician and convicted murderer.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prakash |first=Satya |date=12 February 2025 |title=Delhi court convicts Sajjan Kumar of murder in 1984 genocide case |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/delhi/1984-anti-sikh-genocide-case-sajjan-kumar-convicted-for-killing-father-son-in-delhi/ |work=The Tribune}}</ref> He was a prominent leader of Indian National Congress. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from Outer Delhi as a member of the Indian National Congress but resigned from the primary membership of the party after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the murder and involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide.<ref name="Times_Resign">{{cite news |title=Sajjan Kumar writes to Rahul Gandhi, resigns from Congress |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sajjan-kumar-writes-to-rahul-gandhi-resigns-from-congress/articleshow/67140343.cms |accessdate=18 December 2018 |publisher=The Economic Times |date=18 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/why-gujarat-2002-finds-mention-in-1984-genocide-court-order-on-sajjan-kumar-1963730|title = Why Gujarat 2002 Finds Mention in 1984 genocide Court Order on Sajjan Kumar}}</ref>
==Political career== In 1977, Kumar was sworn in as the Delhi Councillor by prominent social activist Guru Radha Kishan. He was first elected to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and was later appointed General Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Delhi.
In 1980, he elected to 7th Lok Sabha, and was a Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Works and Housing in the Lok Sabha. At the time, he was a Sanjay Gandhi loyalist and a bakery owner.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19800131-sanjay-gandhi-and-his-young-loyalists-sweep-lok-sabha-elections-821700-2014-12-19 | title=Sanjay Gandhi and his young loyalists sweep Lok Sabha elections | publisher=India Today | work=.Prabhu Chawla | date=31 January 1980 | accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref>
In 1991, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha, and then again in 2004 when he won the outer Delhi seat, wherein he got 855,543 votes, representing Indian National Congress. Following his election in 2005, he served as Member, Committee on Urban Development and Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme.
==Investigations and conviction for role in anti-Sikh genocide==
=== PUDR & PUCL fact-finding report === In 1984, a fact-finding team jointly organized by People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) concluded that attacks on members of the Sikh community in the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide were not from spontaneous outrage over the assassination of Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, but rather the result of deliberate planning by important politicians of the Indian National Congress party. The investigators found that the member of parliament who was most commonly named by Sikh riot survivors for being responsible for the attacks in the Delhi locality of Sultanpuri was Sajjan Kumar.
Similarly, Sikh riot survivors in the locality of Mangolpuri nearly unanimously named Kumar as having "masterminded the violence." They alleged that Kumar had given Rs. 100 and a bottle of liquor to each attacker in the genocide. The investigators also observed Sikh riot survivors confront Kumar directly at the Mangolpuri police station accusing him of being responsible for the genocide. Later, Kumar attempted to provide food aid to hungry Sikh survivors at a refugee camp, but the refugees refused it, saying that he was behind the genocide in the first place.<ref name="Desai1991">{{cite book|author=Akshayakumar Ramanlal Desai|title=Violation of Democratic Rights in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0vekq6s2RyYC&pg=PA53|year=1991|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-529-2|pages=50–53}}</ref>
=== Delhi Police investigation === Prior to 2005, the Delhi Police had investigated Kumar's role in the genocide. The investigation was then given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2005 by recommendation from the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission. In the subsequent investigation, the CBI concluded that there was a conspiracy of "terrifying proportion" between Kumar and the police during the genocide, and that the Delhi police had systematically removed Kumar's name from all eyewitness testimony of the genocide.<ref name="india_today"/>
=== CBI investigation === In 2010, as a result of the CBI investigation, Kumar was tried for murder, dacoity, mischief to cause damage to property, promoting enmity between different communities, criminal conspiracy, and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.<ref name="india_today"/> Eyewitnesses testified how Sajjan Kumar had colluded with the police and incited mobs to kill Sikhs.<ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/1984-genocide-sajjan-kumar-provoked-mob-to-kill-my-father-witness-tells-court/734249/2 1984 genocide: Sajjan Kumar provoked mob to kill my father, witness tells court]</ref> In 2012, the CBI prosecutor told a Delhi court that genocide targeting the Sikhs had the "patronage" of Sajjan Kumar.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17811666 | title = India Congress leader 'incited' 1984 anti-Sikh genocide | publisher = BBC News | date = 2012-04-23 | accessdate = 2012-04-23 }}</ref><ref name="IBN23April">{{cite news|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1984-antisikh-genocide-backed-by-govt-police-cbi/251375-37-64.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425011626/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1984-antisikh-genocide-backed-by-govt-police-cbi/251375-37-64.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 April 2012 |title=1984 anti-Sikh genocide backed by Govt, police: CBI |publisher=IBN Live|date=23 April 2012 |accessdate=27 April 2012}}</ref> CBI alleged that he organised anti-Sikh genocide and he, along with five others, are being tried for killing six Sikhs.<ref>{{cite news | last =Times news network | title =CBI blames Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for 1984 anti-Sikh genocide | date =23 April 2012 | url =https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CBI-blames-Congress-leader-Sajjan-Kumar-for-1984-anti-Sikh-genocide/articleshow/12837736.cms | archive-url =https://archive.today/20130103115104/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-23/india/31386233_1_sajjan-kumar-anti-sikh-genocide-lal-and-captain-bhagmal | url-status =live | newspaper =The Times of India | archive-date =3 January 2013 }}</ref>
===Trial and conviction=== In April 2013, the Karkardooma district court in Delhi acquitted Sajjan Kumar, while convicting five others, leading to protests.<ref name="india_today">{{cite news | url = https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/court-to-pronounce-verdict-on-sajjan-kumar-in-1984-anti-sikh-genocide-case-160566-2013-04-29 | title = Sajjan Kumar acquitted in anti-Sikh genocide case | date = 2013-04-30 | access-date = 2013-04-30 | newspaper = The Hindu }}</ref> On 27 August 2013, the Delhi High Court accepted an appeal filed by the CBI against Kumar's previous acquittal by a lower court. CBI stated that the trial court "erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the genocide".<ref name=ht13>{{cite web| title = Court admits appeal against Sajjan Kumar's acquittal| publisher = Hindustan Times| url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Court-admits-appeal-against-Sajjan-Kumar-s-acquittal/Article1-1113617.aspx| date = 27 August 2013| accessdate = 2013-08-27| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130828034449/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Court-admits-appeal-against-Sajjan-Kumar-s-acquittal/Article1-1113617.aspx| archive-date = 28 August 2013| df = dmy-all}}</ref>
He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on 17 December 2018 for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide, being convicted for murders of five family members and burning of a gurudwara.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/congress-sajjan-kumar-convicted-in-1984-anti-sikh-genocide-case-delhi-high-court-cancels-acquittal-1963593 | title = Congress' Sajjan Kumar Gets Life Term In 1984 Anti-Sikh genocide | date = 2018-12-17 | accessdate = 2018-12-17 }}</ref> On 18 December 2018, he resigned from his party.<ref name="Times_Resign"/> His lawyer said that they would appeal in the Supreme Court of India.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/1984-anti-sikh-genocide-sajjan-kumar-to-challenge-conviction-in-supreme-court-on-or-before-december-31/332468 | title=Sajjan Kumar, convicted in 1984 anti-Sikh genocide case, to appeal against 'life sentence' in Supreme Court | publisher=Times Now | date=18 December 2018 | accessdate=19 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/1984-anti-sikh-genocide-sajjan-kumar-will-move-sc-against-hc-order-sentencing-him-to-life/articleshow/67129263.cms | title=1984 anti-Sikh genocide: Sajjan Kumar will move SC against HC order sentencing him to life | newspaper=The Economic Times | date=17 December 2018 | accessdate=19 December 2018}}</ref>
Kumar later filed an interim bail plea on medical grounds in the Supreme Court, but it was rejected by the court on 13 May 2020 stating that he did not need to be admitted to a hospital; however, the court scheduled a hearing of his regular bail plea in July.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sc-declines-interim-bail-to-sajjan-kumar-serving-life-term-in-anti-sikh-riot-case/articleshow/75712183.cms | title=SC declines interim bail to Sajjan Kumar serving life term in anti-Sikh genocide case | work=Press Trust of India | publisher=Times of India | date=13 May 2020 | accessdate=14 May 2021 }}</ref> It later rejected another interim bail plea on 4 September and said he did not need to be admitted to a hospital,<ref>{{cite web| first=Sanjay| last=Sharma | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/sc-rejects-1984-genocide-case-convict-sajjan-kumar-bail-plea-health-ground-1718566-2020-09-04 | title=SC rejects 1984 genocide case convict Sajjan Kumar's plea seeking bail on health grounds | work=India Today | date=4 September 2020 | accessdate=14 May 2021 }}</ref> but stated it will hear his appeal after the courts resume their regular functioning which was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-rejects-sajjan-kumar-s-bail-plea-in-1984-genocide-case/story-Iy8LTQ0IFdQAWujwXmGjgP.html | title='Not a small case': SC rejects Sajjan Kumar's bail plea in 1984 genocide case | work=Hindustan Times | date=4 September 2020 | accessdate=14 May 2021 }}</ref>
A special CBI court granted him bail in one case related to the 1984 genocide on 27 April 2022, however he remained in jail due to his conviction in another case related to the genocide.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/1984-genocide-ex-congress-leader-sajjan-kumar-gets-bail-in-murder-case-1104763.html | title=1984 genocide: Ex-Congress leader Sajjan Kumar gets bail in murder case | work=Indo-Asian News Service |publisher= Deccan Herald | date=28 April 2022 | accessdate=21 May 2024 }}</ref> The Delhi High Court however stayed his release in July 2022 after it was challenged by the Special Investigation Team investigating him.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/hc-stays-bail-granted-to-sajjan-kumar-in-1984-genocide-case/article65603492.ece | title=HC stays bail granted to Sajjan Kumar in 1984 genocide case | work=The Hindu | date=6 July 2022 | accessdate=21 May 2024 }}</ref>
On February 12, 2025, Kumar was convicted in a second case for instigating and participating in the murder of Jaswant Singh, and his son, Tarundeep Singh. The two Sikh men were assaulted by a mob of Indian National Congress supporters on Nov 1, 1984, doused with petrol and burnt alive. Kumar and his supporters also assaulted the wife and niece of Jaswant Singh who tried to protect the two men. 14 eyewitnesses testified against Kumar for his active role in leading the assault.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/anti-sikh-genocide-delhi-court-rejects-political-motivation-claims-finds-sajjan-kumar-guilty-of-murdering-father-son-duo/articleshow/118201773.cms | date=13 February 2025 | work = The Times of India | title=Anti-Sikh genocide: Court finds Sajjan Kumar guilty of murdering father-son duo}}</ref> He was given another life sentence for his role in the murders.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/4-decades-later-ex-mp-sajjan-kumar-gets-2nd-life-sentence-in-anti-sikh-genocide-case-101740475468505.html |first=Arnabjit |last=Sur | date=19 February 2025 | work = Hindustan Times | access-date=25 January 2026 | title=4 decades later, ex-MP Sajjan Kumar gets 2nd life sentence in anti-Sikh genocide case }}</ref>
Kumar was acquitted in one of the cases pertaining to genocide, with a Delhi court ruling that there wasn't enough evidence to establish his guilt in the murders of Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/sajjan-kumar-acquitted/article70539739.ece | first=Ishita |last= Mishra | date=23 January 2026 | work = The Hindu |access-date=25 January 2026 | title=Court acquits Sajjan Kumar in 1984 anti-Sikh genocide case}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://loksabha.nic.in/Members/MemberBioprofile.aspx?mpsno=2871&lastls=14 Official Biographical Sketch in Lok Sabha Website] {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Sajjan}} Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Delhi Category:India MPs 2004–2009 Category:India MPs 1980–1984 Category:India MPs 1991–1996 Category:Lok Sabha members from Delhi Category:Indian politicians convicted of crimes Category:Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Category:Genocide perpetrators Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by India