1984 anti-Sikh riots: Court orders reopening of Tytler case

In a major setback for Congress leader and former Union minister Jagdish Tytler, a Delhi court on Wednesday ordered that his role in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots be re-investigated.

The Karkardooma court which ordered the re-investigation set aside the order of a trial court which had accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closure report of 2009 that had given a clean chit to Tytler.

The closure report was later accepted by the magistrate in 2010 who said there was no evidence against Tytler to try him in the riots case. The case against Tytler relates to the killing of three persons near a gurudwara in Pul Bangash area of the national capital on November 1, 1984.

Tytler told CNN-IBN that he doesn't fear the re-investigation as he had nothing to hide. "I have nothing to reveal or hide," said Tytler about his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which were triggered after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.

The violence had erupted on November 1, 1984 and had led to the death of over 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi. Shops and houses belonging to Sikhs were ransacked and burnt by mobs many of which were allegedly led and instigated by Congress leaders.

Reacting to the Karkardooma court lawyer HS Phoolka, representing riot victims, said, "The CBI's clean chit to Jagdish Tytler has been rejected by the court. The court has also directed the CBI to further investigate the matter. The CBI will record statement of all witnesses in the case again."

Reacting to the court order, the Congress said that law should be allowed to take its own course. Congress spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary said, "This is not new case. It's going on for long time. Let the law take its course. Till now there is no proof against Jagdish Tytler."

Meanwhile, the CBI said that it will first study the order and then decide whether to re-investigate or to move a higher court against this order.

The victims, however, had challenged the order saying the CBI had ignored crucial evidence and not recorded the statements of three key witnesses in the case. The CBI on the other hand claimed that people living near the gurudwara had already been examined and the witnesses cited by the counsel for the victims were unreliable.

CBI lawyers had told the court that Tytler was at former prime minister Indira Gandhi's funeral at the time of the riots. The agency therefore sought the rejection of the victims' demand for a further investigation.

Apart from Tytler, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar is also facing proceedings in the anti-Sikh riots case. He is facing trial for the murder of Sikhs near the Delhi cantonment area. The court has reserved the order on the case against Sajjan Kumar.

Jagdish Tytler is Congress leader and a former overseas Indian affairs minister. Tytler is alleged to have engineered the anti-Sikh riots in 1984.

In November 2007, the CBI closed all cases against Tytler citing lack of evidence. The CBI claimed that Tytler was at Indira Gandhi's funeral at the time of the riots. In April 2009, the CBI filed a closure report against Tytler which was accepted by the trial court in 2010.