A Delhi court on Tuesday gave the CBI four more months to complete investigations into a Sikh riots case against senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler.
Seeking more time to wrap up the probe, the investigating agency submitted before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Shivali Sharma that it was waiting for responses from some agencies, which would take time.
The CBI further submitted that it had spoken to Narinder Singh, a key witness in the case, but he had refused to join the probe. Narinder Singh lives in Canada. Allowing the plea, the CMM fixed February 16 for the next hearing
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Rejecting the third clean-chit given by the CBI to Mr. Tytler in the case, the court had last December directed the CBI to further investigate the case. “As closure report in this case has been filed several times, the court is of the opinion that it would be in the interest of justice if the investigation is monitored by the court on a bi-monthly basis, so that no aspect of the case is left uninvestigated,” the court had said. The CBI had earlier sought to close the case in 2007 and 2009, but was rejected by the court.
Lakhwinder Kaur, the complainant in the case, is the wife of a man who was killed along with two others by a mob at Gurdwara Pul Bangas in north Delhi in the riots. She has accused Mr. Tytler of inciting the mob, which allegedly attacked the Gurdwara. The riots had broken out in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Mr. Singh’s name had cropped up when the CBI recorded the statement of businessman Abhishek Verma, the son of deceased Congress MP Shrikant Verma.
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He had alleged that Mr. Tytler paid about Rs.1 crore to Surinder Singh Granthi, a prosecution witness in the case, and arranged for a visa for $50,000 to send his son, Mr. Narinder Singh, to Canada in return for a statement in his favour.
Mr. Abhishek Verma’s statement is based on what Mr. Tytler had told him during a meeting in August or September 2008. The businessman stated that Mr. Tytler had told him that a deal had been struck with Mr. Surinder Singh, according which he was to be paid a hefty amount as he (the witness) had given a statement against him in the case.
The CBI in its closure report said the evidence by Mr. Abhishek Verma indicated that Mr. Tytler might have tried to influence the witness. However, it could not be verified as the witness was dead.
Also, the statement of the witness was found to be false, concocted and a result of an afterthought in the investigation conducted earlier, the CBI further said, adding that his evidence was also refuted by other witnesses.