Anti-Sikh riots case: Sajjan Kumar was convicted and sentenced to life in jail by the Delhi High Court.
Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's request seeking more time to surrender after he was convicted in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was rejected by the Delhi High Court today. He has to surrender by December 31.
On Thursday, the 73-year-old had sought time till January 31 to surrender, saying that he has three children and eight grandchildren and needs to settle matters related to his property.
Kumar's lawyer had said they need some more time to file an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the high court's verdict in which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The bench of judges said it saw no grounds to grant him the relief and rejected his application.
Sajjan Kumar was convicted by the Delhi High Court and sentenced to life in jail in the killing of five members of a family in Raj Nagar and the torching of a gurdwara in the capital on November 1, 1984. Kumar was the parliamentarian of that area at the time.
After he was found guilty, Kumar wrote to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi saying that he is quitting the party.
At least 3,000 people were killed when mobs led by Congress leaders targeted Sikhs after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31.
On Thursday, Kumar also appeared before a lower court in a separate case over the killing of a man in Delhi's Sultanpuri. The court has adjourned the hearing to January 22.
"It is important to assure the victims that despite the challenges truth will prevail. The aftershock of those atrocities is still being felt," the High Court said in its verdict on Monday.