Reinvestigate Tytler role in '84 riots: Court to CBI

ON THE DEFENCE: Jasbir Singh is not a witness in the riots case, says Jagdish Tytler.

    

People who read this also read:

'84 riots witnesses backtrack, speak for Tytler

The CBI on Wednesday filed its status report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

• 1984 riots witness a proclaimed offender, says Tytler
• 1984 riots: Jasbir Singh moves HC against CBI

Featured Blog

Abhishek Patni

MAULANA MULAYAM AND PERILS OF NUCLEAR DEAL

Featured Slideshows

New Delhi: The Delhi court on Tuesday ordered the CBI to reinvestigate the role of former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

The order came close on the heels of claims by key eyewitness Jasbir Singh on CNN-IBN that no one had spoken to him with regard to the case and that he stands by his indictment of Tytler.

Asking the Central Investigating Agency to further investigate the case, the court told it to submit a status report by January 16.

“The court has rejected the clean chit given to Tyttler and has ordered the CBI to submit a fresh report, Advocate, '84 Riot Victims, H S Phoolka.

The court gave CBI time till January 14 to record the statement of Jasbir Singh.

Reacting to Jasbir's claims of his involvement in the riots, Tytler has denounced Jasbir as a witness in the case. "Jasbir is not a witness," he said.

Jasbir’s lawyer Nav Karan Singh said his client will record his statement by January 14, either at the Indian Embassy in US or at the chamber of his lawyer in New York.

The court also asked the CBI to explore the possibility of recording his statement through video conferencing.

CBI sources, however, reacted to the order with skepticism, saying Jasbir’s deposition will not make any difference to the riots case.

“After 23 years, it’s very difficult to establish fresh evidence against the accused,” they point out.

Over the past 23 years, five different fact-finding commissions had virtually given a clean chit to the former minister.

The CBI last month declared Jasbir as missing and filed the closure report giving a clean chit to Tytler till CNN-IBN traced the eyewitness to his California residence.

Jasbir alleged that no one had spoken to him yet and that he stood by his indictment of Tytler.

“I saw Tytler inciting the mob outside the hospital at the Kinsway Camp. He was saying because of you I am ashamed. Look at Sajjan Kumar’s constituency in the North or HKL Bhagat's constituency in the East, colony after colony of Sikhs have been destroyed. But in my area, so few have been killed,” Jasbir alleged.

"I am grateful to CNN-IBN for bringing my voice to the people, I was ignored earlier. I want your help to get justice. Twenty-six members of my family were massacred in the '84 riots. On November 3, I saw him inciting the crowd near the hospital. I have given the same statement to the Commission as well. I will give all the statements to the officers who are coming to record the statement. My family was constantly harassed by Tytler's people. My parent's house was stoned by these people. I will stick to my statement whatever it takes. I escaped to the US, as I wanted to live and fight for justice," said Jasbir.

The Congress, on the other hand, reacted by saying there was no comparison between Godhra and '84 riots. "This is a legal course of action and if found guilty, the court will take its own course of action. The Congress has stood by a fair legal process," said party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.