Further probe 1984 riots case against Tytler, court to CBI

A court here on Friday refused to accept the closure report and directed the CBI to conduct further investigation into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct further investigations and refused to accept the closure report that gives Tytler a clean chit.

The court also directed CBI to verify the facts given by businessman and arms dealer Abhishek Verma, who was cited as a witness in the closure report.

Abhishek Verma in his statement told the CBI that Tytler had told him in 2008 that he had met the then prime minister after which he got a clean chit for his alleged role in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Verma also stated that Tytler had tried to influence one of the witnesses by giving him a hefty sum of money and promising to settle his son abroad.

The court also directed CBI to record the statement of other witnesses in the case.

On the last hearing, the CBI also submitted that it was prepared to investigate the matter further on the court's permission.

The CBI's statement came while replying to an application filed by the Shiromani Akali Dal in which the party told the court that it would provide the addresses of three material witnesses.

The CBI had earlier informed the court that these witnesses were not traceable.

Advocate H.S. Phoolka, appearing for victim/complainant Lakhvinder Kaur, whose husband Badal Singh was killed during the riots, said that in view of the seriousness of the offence, the court should not accept the closure report.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Kaur against the CBI's closure report - its third - giving a clean chit to Tytler for his alleged role in the violence.

Phoolka said the CBI's investigation was "faulty, tainted, dishonest and perfunctory".

Earlier, the agency gave a clean chit to the Congress leader twice.

In April 2013, a sessions court rejected a closure report and ordered the agency to further investigate the killings.

The CBI did that but filed another closure report on December 24, 2014, saying there was no sufficient evidence to proceed against Tytler.