1984 anti-Sikh riots: Delhi court to consider chargesheet against Jagdish Tytler on July 19

1984 anti-Sikh riots: Delhi court to consider chargesheet against Jagdish Tytler on July 19

New Delhi: A Delhi court will decide on July 19 whether to take cognisance of a charge sheet filed against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a case in connection with alleged Pul Bangash killings during 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Around 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs, had died in the riots in the National Capital in the aftermath of assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Three people were killed and a gurdwara was torched in the Pul Bangash area here on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination.

On Friday, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vidhi Gupta Anand reserved the order after hearing arguments from the CBI and the counsel representing the complainant.

The court directed the court staff to check if the case records, received from another court which was earlier hearing the case, was complete in all respects and file a report by July 19, the next date of hearing.

Noting that the records filed by the staff of a Karkardooma court were bulky and contained in seven judicial files, the ACMM directed the CBI to file the report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) regarding the forensic examination of voice samples of Tytler.

In its chargesheet filed on May 20 before a special court in Delhi, the CBI alleged that Tytler “incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurdwara Azad Market” on November 1, 1984, that resulted in burning down of the gurdwara and killing of three Sikhs — Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Guru Charan Singh. Tytler has been charged under sections 147 (rioting), 109 (abetment) read with 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), among others.