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The Delhi High Court, on Tuesday, deferred the hearing of a plea filed by Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, who is challenging a recent trial court order that framed charges against him related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The charges include murder, unlawful assembly, rioting and promoting enmity. The bench, led by Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, adjourned the matter to November 29 this year. The court noted that certain statements relied upon in the case were not on record, and a formal notice has not yet been issued in the matter. In the hearing, Senior Advocate HS Phoolka appeared on behalf of the victims' families and opposed the plea filed by Jagdish Tytler. Special Public Prosecutor Anupam Sharma, representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), also opposed the plea. Both counsels contested Tytler's challenge to the trial court's decision to frame charges against him for his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Senior Lawyer Arvind Nigam, representing Jagdish Tytler, took the court through the trial court's order and the statements of witnesses in the case. He presented arguments to challenge the framing of charges against Tytler in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Tytler, who recently appeared before the trial court, pleaded not guilty to these charges. He has now approached the High Court, against charges framed against him in connection with the riots. The plea of Jagdish Tytler, submitted that the Impugned Order is perverse, illegal and lacks application of mind. By way of the Impugned Order, the Trial Court has erroneously framed charges against the Petitioner/Revisionist overlooking settled principles of law on the point of charge. The grounds on which such charges have been framed are unfounded. There is no credible evidence to corroborate the allegations levelled against the Petitioner. The Impugned Order is misconceived, has been passed mechanically and without application of mind, and is liable to be set aside. Tytler also cited his medical ground while changing the trial court order. Additionally, the plea mentions that the petitioner has undergone multiple biopsies in 2009, 2011, and 2016, and in 2021, he suffered a severe fall at home, rendering him unconscious, after which he was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. On May 20, 2023, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The CBI accused Tytler of inciting, instigating, and provoking a mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurudwara, Azad Market, on November 1, 1984. The mob's actions led to the burning down of the gurudwara and the killing of three Sikhs--Thakur Singh, Badal Singh, and Gurcharan Singh. The CBI's charge sheet invoked various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 147 (rioting), 148 (armed rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 153A (promoting enmity between groups), 109 (abetment of an offense), 302 (murder), and 295 (defiling of religious places). A key witness stated that Tytler had arrived at the scene in a white Ambassador car and incited the mob by shouting, "Kill the Sikhs, they have killed our mother." This incitement allegedly led to the mob killing the three Sikhs. (ANI)
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