1984 anti-Sikh riots: Jagdish Tytler to be charged with murder

Forty years after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a Delhi court on Friday ordered framing of charges for murder and other offences against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a case related to the killing of three people in north Delhi's Pul Bangash area during the violence.

Citing a witness, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had said in its charge sheet that Tytler came out of a white Ambassador car in front of Gurdwara Pul Bangash on November 1, 1984 and instigated a mob by shouting 'kill the Sikhs, they have killed our mother'.

Three Sikhs were then killed by the mob.

Special CBI judge Rakesh Siyal said there was sufficient evidence against Tytler, a former union minister, to put him on trial.

"Sufficient ground is there to proceed against the accused person," the judge said.

The court ordered framing of charges for several offences, including unlawful assembly, rioting, promoting enmity between different groups, house trespass and theft.

The court has listed the matter for September 13 when the judge is likely to ask Tytler whether he pleads guilty to the charges levelled against him.

If Tytler pleads not guilty and claims trial, the judge will formally frame the charges against him.

Anti-Sikh riots had 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.

A sessions court had in August last year granted anticipatory bail to Tytler in the case.