Delhi assembly demands action against Tytler in 1984 riot case

The Delhi assembly on Tuesday strongly condemned the killing of Sikhs in the national capital during the 1984 riots and passed a resolution asking the central government to register an FIR against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a riot case.

On the occasion, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced legal aid to the survivors of the carnage.

"This House requests the central government to take immediate cognizance of the recent revelations made against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in affidavits of the CBI by one Abhishek Verma, that this Congress leader influenced witnesses and made payments through hawala, and order registration of a criminal case against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," the resolution said.

"This house strongly condemns the genocide of the Sikhs in the national capital in November 1984 and offers its deepest condolences to those innocent people who lost their lives for no fault of theirs," it added.

The resolution was moved by Aam Aadmi Party legislator Jarnail Singh, who broke down while recounting an incident during the riots triggered by the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Singh,a former journalist and a Sikh, said that the "real culprits" were yet to be brought to book.

Tytler was given a clean chit in the riot case, in which he was accused of influencing a witness and money laundering. Over 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the riots in Delhi.

Echoing Singh's views, Kejriwal said had the accused in the case been brought to book, riots in other parts of India wouldn't have occurred.

He accused the Narendra Modi government at the centre of thwarting the AAP government's efforts to re-investigate the case by setting up a Special Investigating Team.

"During our 49-day stint in power in Delhi earlier on, we announced to set up an SIT to probe the case but it could not happen since we quit the government. But a few days before we returned to power again, the centre set up its own SIT and stopped us from forming it," Kejriwal said.

"We are doing whatever is possible for the rehabilitation of the survivors of the riots and will continue to do so. Whenever the survivors need lawyers, we will provide them for free," the chief minister said.