Sajjan Kumar Quits Congress After Conviction in 1984 Riots Case

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar resigns from Congress, cites conviction in 1984 riots case in a letter to Rahul Gandhi.

Sajjan Kumar quits Congress a day after his conviction in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

(Photo: PTI)

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar has resigned from Congress primary membership, PTI reported, quoting sources. This comes a day after the Delhi High Court convicted Kumar for his role in the 1985 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

"I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgment of the hon'be high court of Delhi against me," he said in a letter addressed to Rahul Gandhi.

Remember, the Delhi High Court has asked Kumar to surrender by 31 December. The top court has also extended the terms of other two convicts – former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar – from three years to 10 years.

Besides Kumar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar have also been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Overturning Kumar’s acquittal in 2013, the Delhi High Court held him guilty of the offences of murder, promoting enmity between groups, and defiling public property.

The high court said that the "mass killing" of Sikhs on 1 November and 4 November 1984 had been engineered by political actors with the assistance of law enforcement agencies.

“A majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes, enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency,” the Delhi High Court said while reading the judgment.

The mass killings of Sikhs between 1st and 4th November 1984 in Delhi and the rest of the country, engineered by political actors with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies, answer the description of ‘crimes against humanity.’

Delhi High Court

(With inputs from PTI.)