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Sajjan Kumar dies while serving 1984 riots life terms
NDTV··20 Aug
Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar died on 20 August 2026 after being brought from Tihar Jail to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. Hospital sources said he arrived around 11 am and was declared dead at 12:30 pm. NDTV said he was 80; another report cited 84. He was serving concurrent life sentences in 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.
Prism
What It Means For You
- If your family is among those named in the Palam Colony or Saraswati Vihar judgments, those life sentences were still being served when Kumar died; the 2018 High Court conviction remains on appeal in the Supreme Court.
- Anyone following the January 2026 Janakpuri-Vikaspuri acquittal can note that it did not free him, because the other life terms ran concurrently.
- If you are tracking jail medical records, he was moved from Tihar to Safdarjung on Thursday morning and was declared dead after resuscitation attempts.
What's Happening
- Safdarjung Hospital said police brought him in unconscious, started life support, and recorded death at 12:30 pm.
- He had been lodged in Tihar on concurrent life sentences after the 2018 High Court verdict and the February 2025 Saraswati Vihar conviction.
- India Today reported earlier bail pleas citing illness; committees had advised that hospitalisation was not necessary at that time.
Which 1984 Cases Still Defined His Custody
- The 2018 Delhi High Court judgment overturned a trial acquittal and convicted him for murders in Raj Nagar Part I of Palam Colony and arson at a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part II after Indira Gandhi's assassination.
- The 2025 Saraswati Vihar case concerned Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh, who were burned alive on 1 November 1984; the court declined death and imposed life, citing age and health.
- The January 2026 Rouse Avenue acquittal covered alleged violence in Janakpuri and Vikaspuri, including the deaths of Sohan Singh, Avtar Singh and Gurcharan Singh, for want of proof of his presence.
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