Delhi Court Orders Charges Against Jagdish Tytler in 1984 Genocide Case

The Rouse Avenue court, New Delhi has directed the framing of charges against INC leader Jagdish Tytler in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide. The case involves the killing of three men—Sardar Thakur Singh, Badal Singh, and Gurcharan Singh—by a mob that torched the Pul Bangash Gurdwara in Delhi on 1 Nov 1984, a day after former PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Tytler, who was a 40 year old prominent INC leader at the time, now 80, faces charges including murder, abetment, rioting, promoting enmity between groups, and being part of an unlawful assembly. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which initially exonerated Tytler, was ordered to reopen the investigation it had closed in 2007. Over the years, the CBI filed three closure reports, all rejected by the court. Even former INC Panjab CM Amarinder Singh had absolved Tytler. Eyewitnesses recall Tytler incited violence, where he reportedly shouted, ‘Kill the Sikhs, they have killed our mother,’ referring to Indira Gandhi. At the Azad Market Gurdwara in North Delhi’s Pul Bangash, memories of the violence of the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide resurfaced on 30 Aug as news spread that Tytler is set to face trial. Upon hearing the news, Gurbaksh Singh, a witness to the events, recalled how he and his family were terrified as shops burned and people were killed. In another case related to 1984 genocide, the Delhi High Court has ordered a 10% annual interest on compensation awarded to a victim. This case emerged from an appeal against a 2019 judgment that had dismissed the victim’s plea for interest on the ex-gratia compensation of $1,210 granted to him.