Prosecution seeks death for Sajjan Kumar in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case-OxBig News Network

The prosecution on Tuesday sought death penalty for former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a murder case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying the crime was committed in a “brutal and diabolical manner”.

The prosecution said the case was “graver than the Nirbhaya case” of 2012 in a written submission filed before special judge Kaveri Baweja.

“The present case is graver than Nirbhaya case as in Nirbhaya case, a young woman was targeted but in the present case, people of a particular community were targeted,” it said.

The minimum punishment under the law for the offence of murder is life imprisonment.

The judge deferred the matter to February 21 after the counsel for Kumar sought time to argue on the matter, informing the court that the lawyers were abstaining from work on Tuesday in protest against the Advocate Amendment Bill, 2025.

Senior advocate HS Phoolka, appearing for the complainant, supported the prosecution’s demand of death penalty and sought time to argue on the matter.

Kumar is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.

The prosecution said there was something uncommon in the case, arguing the “aggravated circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances” and the case fell in the “rarest of rare” category.

Kumar, along with the mob, targeted the particular community people without provocation, it added.