SC refuses Sajjan Kumar interim bail on health grounds

File Photo: IANS


The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of 1984 anti-Sikh riots convict and former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar
on medical grounds.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, after perusing the medical records of Kumar, observed that he has been examined by doctors at a government hospital here and his condition is stated to be stable and improving.

The bench, also comprising Justice M M Sundresh, said it is not inclined to grant him bail on medical grounds.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, representing Sajjan Kumar, contended before the bench that his client’s health was deteriorating, and he had also lost a lot of weight. Kumar’s counsel also cited a report on his health by a doctor. “He is accused of heinous crimes. You want him to be treated like some super VIP patient,” the bench told Senior advocate Kumar.

The 75-year-old Kumar is serving life imprisonment after the Delhi High Court had convicted him and others in the case on December 17, 2018.

The high court had reversed the acquittal of Kumar by the trial court in 2013 in the case related to killings of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I area in Palam Colony in southwest Delhi on November, 1984, and burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II.

The riots had broken out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards.

Rejecting the interim bail on medical grounds, the top court said it is not keen on passing any order and if medical authorities consider he needs to be examined at Medanta, then they may go ahead with it.

On August 24, the top court had directed the CBI to verify the medical condition of Sajjan Kumar, who sought interim bail citing health grounds.
The bench sought CBI’s response on Kumar’s plea and asked the investigating agency to file its response within a week, after it has verified his medical condition.