1948 riots: CBI opposes plea to probe Tytler's role

The CBI, on Wednesday, opposed in a Delhi court a plea filed by a 1984 anti-Sikh riots victim seeking further probe in a case of killing of three persons in which Congress leader Jagdish Tytler had been given a clean chit by the investigating agency.

The CBI, on Wednesday, opposed in a Delhi court a plea filed by a 1984 anti-Sikh riots victim seeking further probe in a case of killing of three persons in which Congress leader Jagdish Tytler had been given a clean chit by the investigating agency.

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CBI prosecutor Sanjay Kumar told additional sessions judge Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj that the complainant, Lakhwinder Kaur, whose husband Badal Singh was killed in the riots, had no "locus standi" in the case as she was not the complainant in the main killings case.

"She has no locus standi as she was neither a complainant nor a witness or an informant in the main case. The petition is not maintainable and should be dismissed," the prosecutor argued.

The final arguments, however, could not be advanced further as senior advocate H S Phoolka, counsel for Lakhwinder Kaur, who had filed the petition, could not reach the court due to lawyers' strike in the Karkardooma court complex.

"The CBI has started the arguments. Part arguments heard. Revisionist (Kaur) says her advocate is not able to enter the court premises due to lawyers' strike. Put up the case for April 4 for further arguments," the judge said.

The court was hearing the final arguments on the petition challenging the CBI's closure report and the clean chit given to Tytler in the case.

Earlier, the judge had warned the CBI that if it does not begin its arguments on the next hearing, she would pass the order in the case on the basis of available evidence.

Meanwhile, the anti-Sikh riot victims gathered outside the Karkardooma court complex here and shouted slogans demanding justice for them and their family members who were killed in the riots. They raised slogans seeking strict punishment for Tytler and Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who is facing trial for his alleged role in instigating a mob to kill Sikhs after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

Earlier, the victim's counsel had sought further probe in the matter to ascertain Tytler's role in the killing of three persons in the massacre.

The CBI had given a clean chit to Tytler on April 2, 2009, claiming lack of evidence against him in the case pertaining to the murder of three persons on November 1, 1984, in the wake of the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

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

On April 27, 2010, a magistrate had accepted the CBI's closure report in the case against Tytler, saying there was no evidence to put him on trial. The court had allowed the CBI's argument that Tytler was present at late Indira Gandhi's residence at Teen Murti Bhawan and was not at the scene of crime, saying its contentions were justified by material, including some visual tapes and versions of some independent witnesses.

Witness Jasbir (now residing in California), had claimed in an affidavit before the Justice Nanavati Commission that he had heard Tytler on November 3, 1984, rebuking his men for the "nominal killings" carried out in the riots.

The court rejected Jasbir's version, saying he had deposed for something which took place on November 3 while the case related to an incident of November 1, 1984.