Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday welcomed the Delhi High Court’s judgement convicting Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case connected with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, ANI reported.
The Delhi High Court on Monday held Kumar guilty of murder, promoting enmity between groups, and defiling public property, and sentenced him to to life imprisonment. As many as 2,433 people had died in Delhi alone following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
Singh termed the judgement as “a case of justice finally delivered to the victims of one of the worst instances of communal violence in independent India”, he said in a statement.
The reversal of the 2013 trial court judgement acquitting Kumar proved that the judiciary in India “continues to stand tall as a pillar of the nation’s democratic system”, the statement added, PTI reported. Singh added that Kumar’s name had repeatedly crept up in his interactions with victims and said this was a vindication of the stand he had taken since the riots.
Singh, however, said the Congress and the Gandhi family did not play a role in the riots and criticised the Badal family, which leads the Shiromani Akal Dal, for “continuing to drag their names into the case at the behest of their political masters – the BJP”.
The Congress’ Punjab unit chief Sunil Kumar Jakhar said the Congress has been clear that those involved in the riots should be brought to justice.
“No one is above law,” Jakhar told reporters outside the Parliament, according to ANI. “Those involved in this crime should be given strictest punishment. Law has taken its own course. It will strengthen people’s trust in law. Any person who has been convicted in such cases should quit their political life.”
The Congress, in its official statement, said the conviction should not be politicised and that the law should take its own course, while the Bharatiya Janata Party criticised the Congress for attempting to cover up its involvement in the 1984 riots.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!