1984 anti-Sikh riots case: Court reserves order after Jagdish Tytler refuses lie-detector test
Witness and arms dealer Abhishek Verma has sought protection and offered his conditional consent to undergo the test.
A Delhi court on Tuesday reserved its decision on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s request to conduct a lie-detector test on Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, PTI reported. Tytler has refused to undergo the test in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. After he refused, the Delhi court said it was reserving its order on the matter for May 9.
In February, a Delhi court had summoned Tytler and arms dealer Abhishek Verma after the Central Bureau of Investigation had sought permission to have the Congress leader undergo a lie-detector test. Verma, who is a witness in the case, has given his conditional consent to undergo the test and has requested round-the-clock protection, alleging that there was a threat to his life. The investigating agency, however, said that the consent for a polygraph test should be unconditional.
The case, which was earlier closed after the CBI gave Tytler a clean chit, was reopened in November 2015 after the wife of riot victim Badal Singh claimed that she had fresh evidence against Tytler. On December 4, 2015, the court had asked the investigating agency to re-examine the case and ascertain the authenticity of Verma’s statement, which claimed Tytler had tried to influence a witness.
Tytler has denied any role in the riots that took place in North Delhi’s Gurdwara Pulbangash where three people were killed on November 1, 1984. The riots occurred a day after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.