Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday dismissed former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar’s plea seeking time till January 30 to surrender after being recently sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said it saw no grounds to grant him the relief and rejected his application.
“Application is dismissed,” it said.
The same bench had on December 17 convicted and sentenced 73-year-old Kumar to imprisonment for the remainder of his life in the case and had asked him to surrender by December 31
He had sought more time, till January 30, to surrender saying he has to settle family affairs related to children and property and also needs time to file appeal in the Supreme Court against the high court verdict
The application, filed through advocate Anil Dharma, had said Kumar was “under shock and surprise” since the time he has been convicted and he believes that he is innocent
Claiming his innocence, Sajjan Kumar had requested the court to grant him 30 more days so that he could settle certain property matter and meet his close relatives.
In his plea, the 73-year-old said that he has a big family that includes besides his wife, three children and eight grandchildren.
The Delhi High Court on Monday convicted Kumar in an anti-Sikh riot case of 1984 and sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. The court asked him to surrender till December 31.
Sajjan Kumar said he was shocked and surprised by the judgement as trial court had acquitted him in the case.
Sajjan Kumar needed time to engage senior lawyers
He told the High Court that he would appeal in the Supreme Court challenging its order and therefore he needed time to engage senior lawyers.
He also told the court that most senior counsels were on holiday as the apex court was closed due to winter vacation.
