Forty years after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a Delhi court has ordered the framing of charges against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a case related to the killing of three people in north Delhi's Pul Bangash area during the violence. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), citing a witness in its charge sheet, stated that Tytler was seen on 1 November 1984, stepping out of a white Ambassador car in front of Gurdwara Pul Bangash. According to the witness, Tytler allegedly incited a mob by shouting, "Kill the Sikhs, they have killed our mother." Subsequently, three Sikhs were killed by the mob.
Special CBI Judge Rakesh Siyal found sufficient evidence to put Tytler, a former Union Minister, on trial. "Sufficient ground is there to proceed against the accused person," the judge remarked, as per news agency PTI.
The court has ordered the framing of charges against Tytler for multiple offences, including unlawful assembly, rioting, promoting enmity between different groups, house trespass, and theft. The matter has been listed for 13 September, when the judge is expected to ask Tytler whether he pleads guilty to the charges levelled against him.
Should Tytler plead not guilty and opt for a trial, the judge will formally frame the charges against him.
The anti-Sikh riots erupted across several parts of the country following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on 31 October 1984. In August of last year, a sessions court granted anticipatory bail to Tytler in this case.
ALSO READ | 'Mamata Is Not A Mother. How Would She...': RG Kar Rape-Murder Victim's Mother
Hopeful That Jagdish Tytler Will Go To Jail Soon: Victims' Lawyer
Speaking to news agency ANI, Advocate HS Phoolka, representing the victims, expressed his views on the court's order, stating, "The victims have been saying that they have seen Jagdish Tytler leading a mob and under his instructions, the Gurudwara was set on fire and 3 Sikhs were burnt alive. Due to his political pressure and money power, no case was started against him initially. It was only after the Nanavati Commission report in 2005 that a case was registered against him. Unfortunately, the CBI hurriedly filed a closure report in 2007 without proper investigation. After hearing our argument, the court today has framed charges against him. Now the case will go against him, and we are hopeful that he will go to jail soon."
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier urged the court to frame charges against Tytler, citing eyewitness accounts of his involvement in inciting the mob. The CBI's charge sheet asserts that Tytler incited, instigated, and provoked the mob that set fire to the Gurdwara, resulting in the deaths of three individuals. Charges under Sections 147 (rioting), 109 (abetment) read with 302 (murder), and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were invoked against him, news agency IANS reported.
The legal proceedings against Tytler have been ongoing for years, with the CBI initially filing a closure report, only to later submit a charge sheet. Earlier, Additional Sessions Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand had committed the case to the Sessions Court, noting that the charges against Tytler, including those under Sections 302 (murder) and 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy a house) of the IPC, are exclusively triable by the Sessions Court. The matter is set for further hearing on 22 January, following a request from Tytler's counsel for additional time to present arguments in response to the CBI's claims.