Jagdish Tytler asked to appear in court over lie-test plea

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler has been directed by a Delhi court to appear before it on Friday in connection with a CBI’s plea seeking permission to conduct his lie detection test in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. Besides Mr Tytler, CBI has also sought to conduct the scientific test on the alleged arms dealer Abhishek Verma.

The court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate directed Mr Tytler and Mr Verma to appear before it on Friday at 4 pm to know their stand on the plea. The case pertains to death of three Sikhs in the aftermath of the riots that broke out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Mr Tytler has been given clean chit in the case thrice by the CBI and the probe agency has been directed by the court to further investigate the matter.

Mr Verma has made several statements to the CBI against the senior Congress leader that he allegedly pressurised witnesses in the case. CBI, in its plea, said “For the purpose of further investigation, polygraph test (lie detection test) needs to be conducted on Abhishek Verma and Jagdish Tytler”. The move came in pursuance to court’s December 4, 2015 order in which it was mentioned that lie detection test may be conducted, if required.

“The presence of these two persons namely, Abhishek Verma and Jadgish Tytler, is necessary before this court to accord their consent about the polygraph test (lie detection test),” the plea while seeking court’s direction to the Tytler and Verma to appear before it.

The court had earlier held that Mr Verma in his statement to the CBI disclosed an active role played by Mr Tytler in extending helping hand to a witness against him. The court had noted that statement given by Mr Verma to CBI in which he has claimed that Mr Tytler had sent the son of Surinder Singh Granthi, a key witness against him, to Canada cannot be a “sheer coincidence” and the agency should probe if the facts disclosed by Mr Verma were true. The case pertains to riots at Gurdwara Pulbangash in North Delhi where three people were killed on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.