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The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to stay proceeding against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case related to the killings at Gurudwara Pul Bangash.
Tytler has moved a plea seeking stay on proceedings at the Rouse Avenue court. A hearing is scheduled on Tuesday before the trial court. Tytler had filed a plea seeking a stay on the proceedings at the Rouse Avenue court, but Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri denied the request, stating that the trial will continue. The matter has been listed for November 29, along with the main petition against framing. During the hearing, senior advocates Arvind Nigam and Manu Sharma appeared for Tytler. Tytler's counsel argued that the main witness, Lakhwinder Kaur, was not present at the gurudwara on the date of the incident, on November 1, 1984 and that her statement was based on hearsay evidence. They also pointed out that the trial court had acquitted another accused, Suresh Kumar Panewala, who was charge-sheeted by the CBI in 2009. His counsel argued that what Lakhwinder Kaur stated was on the basis of what Granthi Surender Singh told him. Her statement is a hear say evidence. The Delhi High Court, on October 1, deferred the hearing of a plea filed by Tytler, who is challenging a recent trial court order that framed charges against him related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The CBI has filed a charge sheet against Tytler, accusing him of inciting, instigating, and provoking the mob that burned down the gurudwara and killed three Sikhs - Thakur Singh, Badal Singh, and Gurcharan Singh. The charges include murder, unlawful assembly, rioting, and promoting enmity. Tytler has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has challenged the trial court's decision to frame charges against him. His counsel argued that the impugned order is perverse, illegal, and lacks application of mind, and that there is no credible evidence to corroborate the allegations. Tytler also cited his medical ground while changing the trial court order. Additionally, the plea mentioned 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. 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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