Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress MP convicted in the 1984 Sikh riots case, died at the age of 80 at a Delhi hospital on Thursday. Kumar, who was serving life imprisonment in Tihar jail, was reportedly suffering from medical ailments and was rushed to state-run Safdarjung Hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead. Kumar was convicted last year on February 12 in the case under sections related to rioting, unlawful assembly, murder, etc. by Delhi's Rouse Avenue court. He was sentenced to life imprisonment 13 days later. Kumar was a loyalist of Sanjay Gandhi, the son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In 1980, he was elected to the 7th Lok Sabha from the Outer Delhi constituency on a Congress ticket. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991. In 2004, he won the Outer Delhi seat again. Kumar was convicted of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following Indira Gandhi's assassination. The riots led to the killing of thousands of Sikhs, mainly in Delhi. According to the witnesses, he was accused of giving inflammatory speeches and providing rioters with Rs 100 and liquor. Two years later, in 2013, a district court acquitted him, but the CBI challenged the decision in the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court in 2018 sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment for his role in the 1984 riots. His lawyer appealed to the Supreme Court, but it was rejected. On April 27, 2022, he was granted bail in one riot-related case but remained in jail due to his conviction in another case. On February 12, 2025, a Delhi court convicted him in a second case for instigating and participating in the murder of Jaswant Singh and his son, Tarundeep Singh, on November 1, 1984. Fourteen eyewitnesses testified against him. On February 25, 2025, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for this case. Mahima Joshi works as a Chief Copy Editor at Times Now and is part of the India and Breaking Desk. Covering national stories and bringing breaking new... View More