Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, anti-Sikh riots broke out in the nation's capital. Among the major party officials engaged were Sajjan Kumar, a three-time Lok Sabha MP and former Delhi strongman for the Congress.
After winning a council seat in 1977, the former Congress leader—who had previously owned a bakery—rose through the ranks of the party and was regarded as a close ally of Sanjay Gandhi. As one of the Delhi Congress unit's top leaders, Kumar was well-known for his ability to exert influence outside of Delhi. He won the Outer Delhi seat when he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980, a victory he repeated in 1991 and 2004. However, Kumar left the party in December 2018 following his conviction in a case involving anti-Sikh rioting in 1984.
After Indira Gandhi was killed, Kumar was accused of inciting his supporters in a number of instances related to the riots. Additionally, he was charged with giving the rioters political favoritism. He and four other people were charged by the CBI with killing six Sikh men during the intercommunal rioting. But in 2013, a trial judge found him not guilty based only on the eyewitness account of Jagdish Kaur, the plaintiff who lost her husband, son, and three brothers in the carnage.
Subsequently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at the Congress over the conviction, and said that four years ago no one could have imagined that a Congress leader would get convicted in the “1984 Sikh massacre”.
After being found guilty in 2025 of organizing a mob that burned alive Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984, Kumar was given a life sentence. In addition, he was convicted of plundering and damaging their homes.
Kumar was found not guilty earlier in January of inciting violence in Janakpuri, Delhi, for which a formal complaint was filed in 1992. In this instance, he was the sole accused. The alleged murders of Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh in Vikaspuri were the subject of a different FIR. In 2022, a combined chargesheet pertaining to both instances was submitted. In the Vikaspuri case, where he was charged with murder, Kumar was released in 2023.
Findings of the inquiry commission
The Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry, which examined the riots and the authorities' inability to look into them, found "credible material" against Kumar and came to the conclusion that he was "probably involved" in the attacks that several witnesses had detailed.
Affidavits, police records, and evidence regarding attacks on Sikhs and their properties throughout Delhi were reviewed by the commission. It provided one of the most thorough official explanations of the accusations made against Kumar, portraying him as a strong local Congress leader who reportedly attended, spoke to, or led mobs in areas of west Delhi such as Palam Colony, Raj Nagar, Mangolpuri, and Sultanpuri.
Raj Nagar resident Jagdish Kaur told the committee that she heard Kumar say, "Sardar saala koi nahi bachna chahida (no Sikh should be spared)," to a group of people gathering near Mandir Mangolpuri.
The commission also documented evidence that after Kumar told a crowd in Mangolpuri that Sikhs had killed "their Maata," the crowd chanted slogans demanding the execution of Sikhs. According to the account, a nearby gurdwara was attacked, and three Sikh men were subsequently burned alive.
"Many witnesses have stated about the involvement of S/Shri Sajjan Kumar, Balwan Khokar, Pratap Singh, Maha Singh, and Mohinder Singh," it added in evaluating Kumar's involvement.
