A Delhi court on Friday directed framing of charges of murder and intent to riot against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a case related to the killing of Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Gurcharan Singh outside Pul Bangash gurdwara, registered by the CBI during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Tytler will be arraigned on charges of unlawful assembly, rioting, disobedience to order, desecration of place of worship, theft, murder and rioting on September 13. Tytler will be present on that day to record his plea.
In a chargesheet filed in May last year, the CBI had accused former Union minister Tytler of inciting and instigating the mob that had gathered near the gurdwara in November 1984. In the final arguments in January, the CBI had produced eyewitnesses of the incident. Considering their statements, the court said there was sufficient evidence to frame charges against the Congress leader. The CBI told the court that Tytler instigated the mob to kill Sikhs which resulted in the mob setting fire to Gurdwara Pul Bangash and killing three people of the Sikh community.
One witness claimed that he saw a mob carrying petrol cans, sticks, swords and rods in front of the gurdwara, including Tytler. Another witness claimed that he saw Tytler coming out of a white Ambassador car. He encouraged the crowd gathered there to commit violence.
Jagdish Tytler, on the other hand, has insisted that there is no evidence against him. While coming out of the CBI forensic laboratory after submitting his voice samples last August, Tytler had said, “What have I done? If there is evidence against me, I am ready to be hanged. This has nothing to do with the 1984 riots case for which they wanted my voice sample.”
Let us tell you that after the controversial ‘Operation Blue Star’ in 1984, the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards led to violent attacks on the Sikh community. Officially at least 3000 people were killed but independent sources claim that the number is 8000. This includes at least 3000 people killed in Delhi. Tytler was given a clean chit by the CBI on three previous occasions, but later the courts asked the agency to investigate the case further.
Tytler, 80, once a prominent Congress leader in Delhi, was also named in the Nanavati Commission report that probed the anti-Sikh riots. The case against Tytler was one of the three cases that the panel had recommended be reopened by the CBI in 2005.
Jagdish Tytler is currently out on bail granted by a sessions court. The court had also imposed certain conditions on him, including a guarantee that he will not tamper with evidence in the case or leave the country without permission.
