1984 anti-Sikh riots: Jagdish Tytler refuses to undergo polygraph test

Congress leader Jagdish Tytler. (File Photo)

Congress leader Jagdish Tytler Monday refused to undergo a lie-detection test in connection with a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, in which he had been given a clean chit by the CBI on three previous occasions. Tytler was responding to a May 9 order of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Shivali Sharma, who had asked him and Abhishek Verma to clearly state if they were ready to take the polygraph test. Verma’s lawyer told the court Monday that he was ailing and sought time for his personal appearance to explain the conditions for undergoing the test.

While Verma, who has claimed that there is a threat to his life, has repeatedly told the court that he is willing to take the test if he is provided police protection, Tytler has on multiple occasions submitted before the court that lie detector test is “inhuman, cruel, illegal”, while refusing to undergo the test. The case has been filed by Lakhwinder Kaur whose husband was killed in the riots in Pul Bangash. She said her husband was burnt alive by a mob, which Tytler was a part of.