NEW DELHI: The High Court (HC) on Monday reaffirmed that the murder trial against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case would proceed as scheduled, despite his request to stay the proceedings.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri ruled that the ongoing trial in a lower court will continue, though subject to the outcome of Tytler’s plea before the High Court, with the next hearing set for November 29.
Tytler had approached the court seeking a halt to the trial proceedings. His defence argued that the trial should be paused until the HC addresses Tytler’s challenge against the charges framed against him.
In his petition, Tytler raised concerns about the credibility of the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and questioned the intentions behind the prosecution.
His counsel argued that the trial court’s decision to frame charges, which include murder, incitement to riot, and promoting enmity, was “perverse, illegal, and lacked application of mind.”
Tytler claimed he was being unfairly targeted in a case more than four decades old, citing his age and health conditions as further grounds for reconsideration.
However, representatives of the victims, including senior advocate H S Phoolka, opposed Tytler’s plea, emphasizing that the witness scheduled to testify on November 12 was elderly and dealing with health issues. They argued that further delays would be an undue hardship, with this appearance already marking her fourth court visit.
The CBI’s investigation claims that Tytler allegedly incited violence on November 1, 1984, which erupted following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, by provoking a crowd outside the Pul Bangash Gurdwara. Witnesses allege that his actions led to the deaths of three Sikh men: Thakur Singh, Badal Singh, and Gurcharan Singh.
Tytler, who was granted anticipatory bail in August 2023, maintains his innocence and asserts that he was not present at the crime scene. His legal team argued that no reliable evidence links him to the tragic incident, labelling the charges as “mechanically” framed.
The trial court on September 13 framed charges against him after he pleaded not guilty. Besides murder, the trial court ordered the framing of charges pertaining to unlawful assembly, provocation, rioting, murder, promoting enmity between different groups, house trespass, and theft, among others.
CBI on May 20, 2023, filed a chargesheet against Tytler saying he “incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurdwara Azad Market” on November 1, 1984. The mob, CBI claimed, provoked by Tytler, set a gurdwara ablaze and killed three men.
