Prosecution seeks death penalty for 1984 anti Sikh riots convict: Rarest of rare crime

The prosecution has sought the death penalty for former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, convicted last week by a Delhi court in a case related to the killing of two Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In its written submission, the prosecution argued that the case was graver than the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, as it involved the deliberate targeting of an entire community.

“The present case is more serious than the Nirbhaya case. In that case, a young woman was targeted, but here, people of a particular community were attacked,” the prosecution said, emphasising that Kumar’s crime falls under the “rarest of rare” category deserving of capital punishment.

Kumar was convicted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for the murders of Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh. The prosecution contended that the killings were carried out in a brutal and diabolical manner, shocking the collective conscience of society. The case, they argued, was not just about individual murders but a crime against an entire community, amounting to genocide.

The prosecution further stated that the riots led to large-scale migration of Sikhs, severely impacting their lives and livelihoods. They stressed that such incidents fracture trust between communities and disrupt social harmony. Kumar, who was a Member of Parliament at the time, was accused of not only failing to protect the victims but of actively participating in the violence, openly defying the rule of law.

Given the magnitude of the crime and its lasting impact, the prosecution urged the court to award the death sentence, asserting that the aggravating circumstances far outweighed any mitigating factors.