Sajjan Kumar gets bail in anti-Sikh riots case

NEW DELHI - Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and nine others were Wednesday granted bail by a city court in two cases relating to their alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar granted bail to Sajjan Kumar and the others after they appeared before him.

All the accused furnished a surety and personal bond of Rs.50,000 each. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also provided a copy of the chargesheet to all the accused.

Dressed in a white safari suit, Sajjan Kumar looked calm during the court proceedings.

Sajjan Kumar appeared in court following the non-bailable warrants issued against him and others on two occasions by a city court.

On Feb 26, Sajjan Kumar and others were granted anticipatory bail by the Delhi High Court.

There was tight security on the court premises and no one was allowed to protest outside the court while the hearing was on.

The court slated the case for further hearing March 20 and asked all the accused to be present.

“We have no hope of justice left. When the high court has granted him bail then there was no question of the trial court of not giving him bail. Our all hopes are shattered now,” said Babu Singh Dukhiya, one of the representatives of victims of the 1984 riots.

Senior advocate H.S. Phoolka said: “We will move the Supreme Court against the high court order at the earliest. This is miscarriage of justice.”

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against Sajjan Kumar and the others in two cases for allegedly instigating mobs after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.

Over 3,000 Sikhs across Delhi were killed in the communal frenzy in the days following the assassination.