New Delhi; A Delhi court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a murder case connected to 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying his old age and illness weighed in favour of a lesser sentence instead of death penalty.

Special judge Kaveri Baweja said though the killings of "two innocent persons" in the case was no less an offence, it wasn't a "rarest of rare case" warranting the imposition of death penalty. The verdict came over the killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.

The judge said the offences committed by Kumar were undoubtedly "brutal and reprehensible" but underscored certain mitigating factors, including his age of 80 years and illnesses that "weigh in favour of imposing a lesser sentence, instead of death penalty".

The offence of murder attracts a maximum death penalty whereas the minimum punishment is life imprisonment.

The complainant, wife of Jaswant, and the state, sought the maximum punishment in the case. "The 'satisfactory' conduct of the convict as per the report of the jail authorities, the ailments from which he is reportedly suffering, the fact that the convict has roots in the society and the possibility of his reformation and rehabilitation are material considerations which, in my opinion, tilt the scales in favour of sentence for life imprisonment instead of death penalty," the order said.

Nothing "adverse was reported about Kumar's behaviour" and his conduct was "satisfactory" according to a jail report, the court added.