The Delhi high court today dismissed the plea of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, convicted to serve the rest of his life in jail for killing five people in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, seeking additional time to surrender.
The court had asked him to surrender by December 31 but he had on Thursday moved it seeking time till the end of January.
In his 15-point request filed before the court, Kumar mentioned how the high court’s verdict finding him guilty had stunned him and he needed time to prepare for the jail sentence.
The Delhi high court had on December17 overturned Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal by a lower court and held him guilty of torching a family of five in west Delhi’s Raj Nagar during the riots in Delhi nearly 34 years ago. Spending some more time with his family — including his eight grandchildren — was Sajjan Kumar’s top reason to request the court to give him some grace period before he starts his jail term.
Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel had given the 73-year-old politician, who was considered a Congress strongman in the scores of villages on the outskirts of the national capital, time till December 31 to surrender.
Foremost among the reasons stated in his application seeking a delay in his surrender was the fact that he has eight grandchildren aged between 25 years and five years. The application also states that he has a big family, both from maternal and paternal side.
In the second reason listed in his application, Sajjan Kumar states that he is “at present under shock and surprise in view of the order of acquittal having been set aside and conviction” and goes on to say that the “applicant believes he is innocent”.
His third reason states that he needs time to settle his family affairs including affairs with regard to the properties. The application stated that “he would not be in a position to settle them within the short span of time granted by the court”.