Sajjan Kumar surrenders after conviction in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, sent to Mandoli jail

Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on Monday surrendered before the Karkardooma court in Delhi. This comes even as the former Congress leader moved the Supreme Court challenging the life imprisonment awarded to him by the Delhi High Court earlier this month.

After he surrendered before the court, Sajjan Kumar's lawyer said, "Court has sent him to Mandoli jail. Court has also ordered that a separate van would be provided for his movement due to security reasons."

Sajjan Kumar was convicted and sentenced to life by the Delhi High Court on December 17 in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Raj Nagar area.

The case relates to killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984, and burning down a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar part II during that period.

The High Court also rejected the former Congress leader's plea seeking extension of time till January 30 to surrender for serving his punishment.

The Delhi High Court had overturned his acquittal by the trial court and held that the violence was a "crime against humanity" engineered by politicians with assistance from police. The HC convicted him and five others saying that the "criminals" had escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.

"This court is of the view that the mass killings of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in November 1984 were in fact 'crimes against humanity'. They will continue to shock the collective conscience of society for a long time to come," a bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel had said.

A day after his conviction, Sajjan Kumar had resigned from the primary membership of the Congress party. He wrote to Congress president Rahul Gandhi submitting his resignation.

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