Court to hear anti-Sikh riots case on Aug 14

A Delhi court today fixed August 14 for hearing a case in which CBI has filed closure report giving clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his alleged role in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S P S Laler put the matter for next month as the lawyers in all the six district courts are on an indefinite strike to protest delay in passage of a bill in Parliament aimed at enhancing pecuniary jurisdiction of trial courts.

The court had earlier fixed today's hearing for filing of protest petition by the victims against CBI's third closure report giving clean chit to Tytler in the case.

Senior advocate H S Phoolka, representing the victims, had earlier sought four weeks time to file the protest petition.

The CBI had earlier told the court that no fresh FIR has been lodged against Tytler on allegations of influencing witness and money laundering.

CBI's reply had come while responding to the court's query whether the agency has registered any case against Tytler under sections 193 (punishment for false evidence), 195A (threatening a person to give false evidence) of IPC and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The court had earlier asked CBI to respond to allegations that Tytler had allegedly tried to influence a witness by giving him money and sending his son abroad and also alleged hawala transaction.

Allegations of influencing witness and hawala transaction had surfaced from the statement of arms dealer and navy war room leak case accused Abhishek Verma, which was recorded by the CBI earlier.

Verma, who is at present lodged in a jail and whose statement was recorded by CBI on August 5, 2013, had said that the conversation between him and Tytler took place after his release from jail in the leak case when they were going to a farmhouse of Gopal Kanda, the then Congress MLA of Haryana, in August-September 2008.

The case pertains to riots at Gurudwara Pulbangash in North Delhi where three people were killed on November 1, 1984 after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

CBI had claimed Tytler was not present at the gurudwara during the riots and was rather at Teen Murti House.

Tytler's alleged role in the case relating to the killing of three persons -- Badal Singh, Thakur Singh and Gurcharan Singh -- near Gurudwara Pulbangash was re-investigated by CBI after a court had in December 2007 refused to accept its closure report.

Tytler had earlier denied any role in the riots.