A Delhi court on Friday reserved order on a Central Bureau of Investigation plea to close a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S.P.S. Laler reserved the order for November 17.
This is the third time the investigating agency has sought closure of the case. It had sought closure of the case in 2007 and 2009, but the court had rejected the pleas and ordered further investigation.
Complainant in the case Lakhwinder Kaur, whose husband was killed by a mob along with two others at Gurdwara Pul Bangas in North Delhi in the riots. She has accused Mr. Tytler of inciting the mob. The riots had broken out in the wake of the assassination of erstwhile Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The complainant’s counsel alleged that Mr. Tytler had tried to win over a witness in the case.
Businessman Abhishek Verma, son of late Congress MP Shrikant Verma, had alleged in a statement recorded by the investigating agency that Mr. Tytler had 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 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 in 2008. The businessman stated that Mr. Tytler had told him that a deal had been struck with Mr. Granthi, according which he was to be paid a hefty amount as he (witness) had given statement against him in the case.
The CBI in its closure report said the evidence by Mr. Abhishek Verma indicates that Mr. Tytler might have tried to influence the witness; however, it could not be verified as the witness has since died.
Also, the statements of the witness were found to be false, concocted and a result of an afterthought in the investigation conducted earlier, the investigating agency further said, adding that his evidence was also refuted by other witnesses.
