New Delhi: A Delhi court will hear on Thursday a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who is accused of instigating a mob to kill Sikhs. District Judge Poonam A Bamba is scheduled to record the statement of a key prosecution witness in the case and Kumar is directed to appear before the court.
Three people — Kumar, Brahmanand Gupta and Ved Prakash — are facing trial on charges of murder and rioting in the case pertaining to the killing of Surjit Singh in Sultanpuri. The witness, Cham Kaur, had on November 16 identified Kumar before the court as one who had allegedly instigated the mob to kill Sikhs.
Kaur had told the court that she had seen Kumar allegedly addressing the crowd in national capital's Sultanpuri area in 1984 that Sikhs had killed "our mother" and instigated the mob to kill them.
"On October 31, 1984 we were watching TV on the demise of Indira Gandhi. On November 1, 1984 when I stepped out to look for my goat, I saw accused Sajjan Kumar addressing the crowed and was saying 'hamari ma maar di. Sardaro ko maar do' (killed our mother. Kill the Sikhs)," Kaur had told the court.
She had further said the next morning, they were attacked in which her son and her father were killed. "My son Kapoor Singh and my father Sardarji Singh were pulled out of the hiding place on second floor, beaten badly and were thrown down from the roof," she had said, adding that she herself received injuries in the attack.
During the proceedings, Kaur had also identified Kumar, who was present in the court. "I could recognise the accused Sajjan Kumar, as we used to visit him for getting help in making ration card, passport. We used to visit the accused for getting the papers stamps as he was the MP/MLA," she had said.
Before Kaur, another key prosecution witness Sheela Kaur had identified Kumar as the one who had instigated the mob in Sultanpuri. The case was transferred from the Karkardooma court to the Patiala House court here by the Delhi High Court, which had directed the district judge to video record the proceedings at the cost of the accused.
Kumar and two other accused, Brahmanand Gupta and Ved Prakash, had said that they were ready to bear the expenses of the videography of proceedings. The proceedings in the case were earlier stayed after the victim and complainant Joginder Singh approached the high court seeking transfer of the case while alleging that evidence was not being properly recorded.
The Delhi High Court had on December 17 convicted Kumar and sentenced to imprisonment for "remainder of his natural life" in another 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, saying the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage" and aided by an "indifferent" law enforcement agency.
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