Sajjan Kumar Dies at 84, Closing a Contentious Legal Chapter

Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress Member of Parliament whose political career became inseparable from the shadow of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died Thursday at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. He was 84, succumbing to complications arising from Parkinson’s disease and high blood pressure after a final emergency admission.

Editorial·August 20, 2026·reads: 1,158

Sajjan Kumar Dies at 84, Closing a Contentious Legal Chapter

Kumar arrived at the medical facility at 11:00 am but could not be revived, with medical staff declaring him dead ninety minutes later. His passing brings a definitive end to a decades-long legal saga that defined his later life. In 2018, the Delhi High Court handed him a life sentence for his role in the violence that erupted in the Raj Nagar area, a conviction that stood as a rare judicial reckoning in a case marked by years of acquittals and protracted litigation. His death marks the conclusion of one of the most polarizing legacies in Indian criminal history, leaving behind a record that remains a focal point for debates regarding justice and political accountability.