1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi : Sajjan Kumar acquitted

A

• 5 convicted, three of them face death penalty
• Protests outside court, shoe hurled at judge

New Delhi (PTI): In a major relief to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, a Delhi court on Tuesday acquitted him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, while convicting five others for being part of the mob that killed hundreds of Sikhs. District and Sessions Judge J R Aryan acquitted Kumar while convicting five others -- Balwan Khokkar, an ex-councillor, Mahender Yadav, an ex-MLA, Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal -- for their involvement in the case.

The pronouncement of judgment witnessed a huge uproar by the protesters, one of whom hurled a shoe at the judge soon after he acquitted Kumar in the case of riots that broke out 29 years ago on October 31, 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Kumar, a former Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi, still faces trial in another 1984 rioting case.

In a third case, the Delhi Police has filed a closure report, saying there was no evidence against Kumar to implicate him. Protesters in big numbers gathered at the Karkardooma district courts complex here and after Kumar's acquittal, complainant Jagdish Kaur sat on protest inside the courtroom saying she would not leave until justice was done.

Balwan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal were held guilty for the offence of murder under section 302 (murder) of the IPC which entails death penalty as maximum punishment while Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokkar were convicted for the offence of rioting only. The court has now fixed May 6 for hearing the arguments on quantum of sentence in the case. The case relates to anti-Sikh riots that had broken out after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. on October 31, 1984.