HC dismisses Sajjan Kumar plea for time till Jan 30 to surrender
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, seeking a month’s time to surrender before a trial court following his conviction in a 1984 anti-sikh riots case where he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the remainder of his life. A bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel rejected the application filed by the 73-year-old Kumar, who had sought time till January 30 to settle his family affairs as it could not be done within a short span of time. “Application is dismissed,” the court said, adding it did not see any grounds to grant the relief sought.
In his plea, filed through advocate Anil Sharma, Kumar contended that in the present position he would “not be in a position to settle his family affairs, including his properties, within a short span granted by the court”. “...the applicant is at present under shock and surprise in view of the order of acquittal having been set aside and the applicant convicted, although the applicant believes that he is innocent,” the plea read.
Kumar also sought extension on the grounds that he was considering appealing against the verdict in the Supreme Court, which is on winter vacation.
“…the applicant is also seeking extension as he has statutory remedy of filing an appeal for which he seeks to engage senior counsels in the Supreme Court and brief them. Presently, most of the senior advocates are on holiday as the Supreme Court is closed for vacation,” it said. On December 17, Kumar was convicted of murder, rioting and provoking the mob. The same division bench had set aside his acquittal by the trial court and sentenced him to life imprisonment for the remainder of his life. The court, while convicting him, had directed him to surrender by December 31 and not to leave the capital.