This is an archive article published on June 4, 2015
Court asks CBI to reply on allegations against Jagdish Tytler
The judge posted the case to June 26 and asked the prosecutor to inform him about the action taken by CBI on the allegations that Tytler paid money to the witness.
A Delhi court, while hearing the closure report filed by the CBI in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on Wednesday directed the CBI to reply to an allegation that Congress leader Jagdish Tytler tried to influence a witness.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S P S Laler sought the CBI’s response on the statement it recorded of jailed businessman Abhishek Verma during its investigation in the case. Counsel of the riot victims, senior advocate H S Phoolka, argued that – based on the CBI’s closure report and other documents annexed with the report — Tytler struck a “deal” and paid a “hefty amount” to a riot witness but the witness went on to depose against the Congress leader.
[related-post]
Phoolka argued that a perusal of the closure report which gave Tytler a clean chit, clearly showed that Tytler had influenced and bribed the witness. Verma had told CBI that a “hefty amount” was paid to Surinder Singh Granthi (the witness who died) besides helping his son Narinder to settle abroad. “Tytler also told me that in spite of paying a very large amount, Granthi changed his statement twice/thrice,” Verma in his deposition before the CBI said.
Story continues below this ad
Verma told the CBI that the conversation between him and Tytler took place after Verma’s release from jail in the Naval War Room leak case. However the CBI in its closure report said the oral evidence of Verma “indicates that Tytler might have tried to influence Granthi, but the facts narrated by him cannot be verified Granthi has since died.”
Phoolka further stated that Tytler has committed the offence under Section 193 (punishment for false evidence) for influencing and bribing witnesses. “It was shocking that even after receiving evidence of such incriminating nature, the CBI has submitted a closure report giving a clean chit to Tytler,” Phoolka argued.
The judge posted the case to June 26 and asked the prosecutor to inform him about the action taken by CBI on the allegations that Tytler paid money to the witness.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
2 min read
Jagdish Tytler
