Jagdish Tytler’s role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots: CBI ‘tracing’ three witnesses, two others ‘ready to depose’
I P Singh, TNN | Mar 6, 2014, 11.26AM IST
JALANDHAR: Congress leader Jagdish Tytler is in the race for a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections from Delhi’s northeast constituency and has been citing CBI’s clean chit to him to claim that there is no case against him. However, now, it is coming out that CBI is in the process of “tracing” at least three more witnesses against Tytler, even as two other witnesses, now living in US, have already expressed their willingness to testify against him.

CBI, in an email to US based rights group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on March 3 reads, “We are in the process of tracing the remaining 3 persons namely Chanchal Singh, Alam Singh and Santokh Singh, who are reportedly residing in US. As soon as we get their present whereabouts, the examination of all the including Resham Singh and Jasbir Singh would be undertaken on priority.”

SFJ has claimed that CBI is still trying to shield Tytler and ignoring the pleas of California-based witnesses Resham Singh and Jasbir Singh who are available and ready to testify about the Congress leader’s role in leading death squads after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Tytler is being investigated by CBI for his role in leading squads that attacked gurdwara Pulbangash on November 1, 1984, in which three Sikhs were burned alive.

On April 10, 2013 Judge Anuradha Bhardwaj, while rejecting the closure report of CBI, ordered it to conduct further investigation and to record the statements of US-based witnesses.

Referring to the communication with CBI, attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to SFJ, held that the claim of the investigating agency about tracing other witnesses failed to justify why they were not recording the statements of those US-based witnesses who were available and ready to testify against Tytler?

CBI has proved itself to be partisan and has acted like Tytler’s defence team because since the Nanavati Commission’s report in 2005 finding credible evidence of his involvement in the November 1984 killings, the agency has twice attempted to give clean chit to Tytler despite the fact that multiple witnesses are available, added attorney Pannun.

“In September 2007, CBI had claimed that Jasbir Singh was not traceable and submitted this claim even to the court after which we brought him out in public within a day and his address was also provided to court which then ordered the CBI to record his statement in US,” Pannun recalled