'Losing weight does not mean he is unhealthy': SC on Sajjan Kumar's bail plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that ex-Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, sentenced for life by the Delhi High Court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, be examined by a panel of AIIMS doctors.

The top court sought a report in four weeks from the panel of doctors constituted by the AIIMS director after Kumar sought urgent listing of his bail plea on health grounds.

A bench headed by Justice S A Bobde said it will hear the bail application of Kumar in the summer vacation next year.

On August 5, a bench headed by Justice Bobde had said it would hear Kumar’s bail plea in May 2020 as it was not an “ordinary case” and required detailed hearing before any order is passed.

“We are of the view that the health condition of petitioners (Kumar) be examined by a panel of doctors constituted by the AIIMS director. Report the file in four weeks,” the bench said. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Kumar, said he has been in jail for the past 11 months and has lost around 8-10 kg of weight. He said Kumar has been suffering from various ailments and has serious health issues.

To this, the bench said losing weight does not mean that he is unhealthy but still “we will order examination of his health conditions by a panel of doctors”. Kumar resigned from the Congress after he was convicted by the high court.

The case in which he was convicted and sentenced relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar Part-I area of southwest Delhi on November 1-2 in 1984, and burning down of a gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part-II.