A Delhi court on Friday directed framing of charges, including murder and provocation with intent to cause riot, against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a case related to the killing of Thakur Singh, Badal Singh, and Gurcharan Singh, outside the Pul Bangash gurdwara in the city, during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. The case had been registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Formal charges – unlawful assembly, rioting, disobedience to order, defiling a place of worship, abetment), mischief by fire, and theft, apart from murder and intent to cause a riot – will be framed on September 13, when Tytler will be be present to enter a plea – either ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’.
The CBI, in a chargesheet filed in May last year, had accused Tytler, a former Union Minister, of “inciting, instigating and provoking the mob” assembled near the gurdwara in November 1984. In concluding arguments in January, the federal agency presented eyewitnesses’ statements and told the court there is sufficient evidence to frame charges against the Congress leader.
“Tytler provoked the mob to kill Sikhs which resulted in Gurudwara Pul Bangash being set on fire by the mob and killing of three persons belonging to Sikh community…” the CBI told the court.
READ | CBI Says Eyewitnesses Saw Tytler Instigating Mob During 1984 Riots
One witness claimed to have seen a mob carrying petrol canisters, sticks, swords, and rods, with Tytler, then a Member of Parliament, in front of the gurudwara, while others claimed to have seen him emerge from a car – a white Ambassador – and exhort the gathered mob to carry out his “instructions”.
Tytler, however, has insisted that there is not even a “single evidence” against him.
READ | CBI Records Jagdish Tytler’s Voice Sample In 1984 Riots Case
“What have I done? If there is evidence against me I’m prepared to hang myself… It wasn’t related to 1984 riots case for which they wanted my voice (sample)…” he had said in August last year, as he left the CBI’s forensics laboratory after submitting voice samples.
The assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, by her Sikh bodyguards, in 1984 after her controversial ‘Operation Blue Star’, led to violent attacks on the community.
Officially at least 3,000 people were killed but independent sources claim the number is 8,000 including at least 3,000 in Delhi. Tytler had been given a clean chit by the CBI on three previous occasions, but the courts subsequently asked the agency to investigate the matter further.
Tytler, 80, once a formidable Congress leader in Delhi, was also named in a report by the Nanavati Commission, which probed the anti-Sikh riots. The case against Tytler was one of the three the panel recommended, in 2005, be reopened by the CBI.
Jagdish Tytler has long been a point of attack for the Congress’ rivals, including, in the past, current allies Aam Aadmi Party. The party has been accused of shielding its accused leaders.
Tytler is out on bail granted by a sessions court on a bond and surety of Rs 1 lakh each.
That court had also imposed certain conditions on him, including guarantees that he will not tamper with the evidence in the case or leave the country without permission.
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