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HomePoliticsSajjan Kumar resigns from Congress after conviction in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

Sajjan Kumar resigns from Congress after conviction in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

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Sajjan Kumar resigned in the wake of the high court judgment sentencing him to life imprisonment in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot case.

New Delhi: A day after being convicted in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar resigned from the primary membership of the party, sources in the party said on Tuesday.

The Delhi High Court on Monday set aside a trial court’s order acquitting Kumar and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the killing of five members of a family in Raj Nagar in Delhi on 1 November 1984.

“I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgement of the hon’be high court of Delhi against me,” he said in the letter to party president Rahul Gandhi.

A bench of justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel also convicted Sajjan Kumar for abetment, instigating violence against Sikhs and disrupting communal harmony. At least 3,000 people were killed when mobs allegedly led by Congress leaders targeted Sikhs after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

The court said the life sentence awarded to the Congress leader would be for the “remainder of his life” and directed him to surrender by December 31.

A Delhi trial court had acquitted Kumar in 2013 on the grounds that he deserved “benefit of doubt” as the key witness’ testimony was inconsistent.


Also read: How Sajjan Kumar got away with ‘conspiracy to commit murder’ five years ago


Kumar, an influential Jat leader, began his career as a councillor in 1977 before going on to serve as a Member of Parliament from Outer Delhi on three occasions since 1980.

(With PTI inputs)

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