1984 anti-Sikh riots: Delhi court to hear case against Tytler on Nov 12

New Delhi
A Delhi court is likely to hear on November 12 the arguments in a case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in connection with the killing of three people in north Delhi’s Pul Bangash area during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Special judge Jitendra Singh, who was scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday, adjourned it after being told that the counsel for the accused was unwell.
“It is submitted by counsel for accused that main counsel/ his father is not well…, therefore, he has requested for a short adjournment. The adjournment is opposed by counsel for the complainant. In the interest of justice, one opportunity is granted to counsel for accused due to his personal difficulty,” he said.
“However, counsel shall file his medical documents in support of his medical condition on the next date of hearing. It is made clear that no further adjournment shall be granted thereafter,” the judge added.
Tytler, who is currently on bail in the case, appeared before the court.
A sessions court had in August last year granted him anticipatory bail in the case. On August 30 this year, the court ordered the framing of charges against Tytler under Sections 302 (murder), 109 (abetment), 147 (rioting), 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 143 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in relation to the case, saying there was sufficient ground to proceed against the accused.
The judge framed the charges on September 13 after Tytler pleaded not guilty to the offences.
The CBI filed the chargesheet against Tytler in the case on May 20, 2023. It alleged that Tytler “incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Guruwara in Azad Market” on November 1, 1984, that resulted in the burning down of the gurdwara and the killing of three Sikhs — Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Gurcharan Singh.
The CBI had also said in its chargesheet that Tytler came out of a white Ambassador car in front of the gurdwara on November 1, 1984, and instigated a mob by shouting, “Kill the Sikhs, they have killed our mother.”Anti-Sikh riots erupted in several parts of the country in the aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.