Harsimrat hails Sajjan Kumar's conviction in anti-Sikh riots case

Chandigarh: Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal Monday hailed the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, saying the verdict has given confidence that the law would soon catch other Congress leaders allegedly involved in the "genocide".

The Delhi High Court Monday convicted Sajjan Kumar for conspiracy to commit murder in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.

"I am grateful to the high court that it has given a landmark judgement and it gives us confidence that yes if Sajjan Kumar today and Jagdish Tytler tomorrow and it will be Kamal Nath after that. Eventually it will be the Gandhi family who will be answerable," Harsimrat said while addressing media here.

She said, "It is a historic judgment as wheels of justice, which had stopped earlier, has now started moving again".

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will have to answer why Kamal Nath, allegedly involved in the riots, was sworn in as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister Monday, she said.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had earlier lashed out at the Congress for selecting Nath as the Madhya Pradesh CM, while alleging that he was also involved in the violence that broke out in the national capital following the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

The minister also thanked the Narendra Modi government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for conducting a fresh probe into all cases relating to the riots in Delhi and some other states.

"When the (NDA) government came to power in 2014, it was our (SAD) first demand that the government take steps to ensure justice in 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases which had been eluding for the last 30 years," the Union Food Processing minister said.

Harsimrat also accused the Congress of giving political patronage to its leaders in order to save them.

"Sajjan Kumar was roaming free because of Gandhi family's patronage Look at the extent of the patronage that one accused is being sworn in as the CM of a state and other accused is given life sentence.

"Today, I want answers from Rahul Gandhi who had said just few months back that Congressmen had no hand in the genocide. This is the extent that Congress party has come to after 34 years of misusing the Delhi Police, the CBI, and every platform to clean out every kind of proof against it," she alleged.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal also welcomed the verdict, saying "Congress conspiracy to target & massacre Sikhs is being unearthed finally".

"This is direct result of PM Modi's initiative to form an SIT which reopened '84 cases to ensure justice to victims," Sukhbir tweeted.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel convicted Kumar for criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity and acts against communal harmony.

The high court said Kumar's life imprisonment will be for the remainder of his life and asked him to surrender by December 31.