‘Magistrate can take decision in 84’ riots case’

In a setback to the CBI, a Delhi court rejected its contention that a Metropolitan Magistrate cannot decide on its probe report giving clean chit to former union minister Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, reports HT Correspondent.

In a setback to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a Delhi court on Tuesday rejected its contention that a Metropolitan Magistrate cannot decide on its probe report giving clean chit to former union minister Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

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The court decided to take up the closure report against the Congress leader.

The CBI, which had on April 2 sought to close the case against Tytler claiming there was no sufficient evidence against him, had questioned the jurisdiction of a magisterial court and sought the matter to be transferred to a Sessions court.

The agency claimed as the matter involved the offence of murder it should be transferred to the Sessions court.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit, however, was not convinced with CBI’s arguments and decided to hear the closure report on September 23.

“This court can take cognisance of the offence exclusively triable by the court of sessions and can summon the accused who are mentioned in the chargesheet as well as those who are not mentioned therein if it appears to the court that they have also done the offence,” the judge said.

The alleged role of Tytler in a case related to killing of three persons on November 1, 1984, in the aftermath of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination was re-investigated by the CBI after a court had earlier refused to accept a closure report against him in December, 2007.