SC judge recuses himself from hearing Sajjan Kumar’s appeal

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjiv Khanna on Monday recused himself from hearing the appeal of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar challenging the Delhi high court verdict that sentenced him to life term in a 1984 anti-sikh riots case.

The apex court on January 14 had sought response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and had posted the matter for hearing Kumar’s appeal and the bail plea for Monday.

“My brother (justice Sanjiv Khanna) does not want to hear,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Khanna said at the out set.

The bench then ordered that Kumar’s plea be listed before an appropriate bench to which justice Khanna was not part and adjourned the hearing.

The apex court had earlier admitted Kumar’s appeal for hearing and had also issued notice to the CBI on his bail plea and had sought its response within four weeks. It had also allowed the former Congress leader to file “lengthy list of dates” and “additional facts and grounds” in favour of his appeal.

Kumar, 73, had surrendered before a trial court here on December 31, 2018, to serve the sentence in pursuance of the high court’s December 17 judgment awarding him life imprisonment for the “remainder of his natural life”. After his conviction in the case, Kumar had resigned from the Congress.pti