Court seeks CBI response on allegation against Tytler

New Delhi, October 28: A court here on Wednesday once again sought the CBI’s response on allegations that Congress leader Jagdish Tytler tried to influence witnesses in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against him. Additiol Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to clarify the efforts made by it to ascertain claims of controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma that Tytler tried to influence one of the witnesses by giving him a hefty sum of money and promising to settle his son abroad.

The court has fixed the matter for October 30 after the agency did not respond to its question. Senior advocate H.S. Phoolka, appearing for victim/complaint Lakhvinder Kaur, whose husband Badal Singh was killed during the riots, had said that in view of the seriousness of the offence, the court should not accept the closure report. The court was hearing a petition filed by Lakhvinder Kaur against the CBI’s closure report - its third - giving a clean chit to Tytler for his alleged role in the violence.

Phoolka, who is representing the victims, said the CBI’s investigation was “faulty, tainted, dishonest and perfunctory”. Earlier, the agency gave a clean chit to the Congress leader twice. In April 2013, a sessions court rejected the closure report and ordered the agency to further investigate the killing. The CBI did that but filed another closure report on December 24, 2014, saying there was not sufficient evidence to proceed against Tytler. (IANS)