1984 Anti Sikh Roits: Congress leader Jagdish Tytler moves Delhi HC challenging charges framed against him
Sep 30, 2024
New Delhi [India], September 30 : Congress leader Jagdish Tytler has moved the Delhi High Court challenging a recent trial court order that framed charges against him for murder and other offences related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The charges against Tytler include unlawful assembly, rioting, and promoting enmity.
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 filed through Advocate Vaibhav Tomar on behalf of the petitioner, 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," the plea said.
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.
The bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri is scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday.
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.
