Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was serving life sentence in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh killings in Delhi, died on Thursday (August 20, 2026) in Safdarjung Hospital, sources told The Hindu.

Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018, in a case related to the killing of five Sikhs and the burning of a gurdwara during the 1984 anti-Sikh killings.

Citing the “absence of credible evidence” against him, a Delhi court on January, 2026 acquitted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a case related to violence in the Janakpuri area during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Despite the acquittal, Kumar was lodged in Tihar Jail as he was serving life sentences in other cases related to the 1984 riots. In 2018, the Delhi High Court awarded him life imprisonment for the killing of five Sikhs in Palam Colony, a verdict currently under challenge in the Supreme Court. In February 2024, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in another case relating to the murder of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh in Saraswati Vihar.

Kumar, a three-time Lok Sabha member, represented the Outer Delhi constituency and had been a prominent Congress leader. He resigned from the party after his 2018 conviction.

(With PTI inputs)

Published - August 20, 2026 03:15 pm IST