1984 anti-Sikh riots: Why former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar was not awarded death penalty

NEW DELHI: Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday in a murder case connected to anti-Sikh riots in 1984. Sajjan was convicted of killing Jaswant Singh and his son, Tarundeep Singh, on November 1, 1984.
The verdict attracted strong reactions from Sikh leaders who questioned why Kumar had not been given death penalty. "We will not accept anything less than the death penalty. We are not happy with the verdict of the court. We will appeal to the government to go to a higher court and announce death penalty for Sajjan Kumar," Sikh leader Gurlad Singh said.
Even though the court acknowledged the brutality of Kumar's crimes, it categorically cited mitigating factors, including his age, health issues, and good conduct in jail, as reasons to impose a life sentence instead of the death penalty.

Explaining why the scales were in favour of life imprisonment and not death penalty, the court's order said, "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."
"Though the killings of two innocent persons in the present case is no less an offence, however, the above noted circumstances, in my opinion, do not make this a 'rarest of rare case' warranting imposition of death penalty," the court said.
The judge noted that the current case was part of the same sequence of events for which Kumar had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi high court on December 17, 2018. At that time, he was found guilty of causing the deaths of five people during rioting that erupted after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The judge sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment for his role in the mob that looted the victims' home, set it on fire, and "brutally killed" two people. Citing a jail report, the court also noted that Kumar's deteriorating health had left him struggling with daily activities.
The judge referenced the convict's psychiatric and psychological evaluation report, which indicated that he was receiving treatment in the departments of medicine, urology, and neurology at Safdarjung Hospital and had been prescribed antidepressants and sleep medication.