NEW DELHI: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty for killing 5 members of a family in the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. The trial court had earlier acquitted him of the allegations but the CBI took charge of the same and the decision has been overturned.
"It is important to assure the victims that despite the challenges truth will prevail," the High Court said. The court referred to the courage of Jagdish Kaur, the victim who had fought for the legal action against Sajjan Kumar and other convicts. "The aftershock of those atrocities is still being felt," said the court.
"Criminals have enjoyed political patronage," the court noted, also saying there was "abject police failure" as the police failed to act against the inability of the victims to file complaints. A former Congress councillor, Balwan Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal and three others were held guilty in the Raj Nagar case but a trial court had acquitted Sajjan Kumar.