Twist in Tytler case, wife of victim wants to be heard

24 May 2009, 0410 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: A woman, claiming to be the wife of one of the deceased in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, surfaced on Saturday in court pleading that she
should be heard while deciding on the CBI's closure report giving a clean chit to former union minister Jagdish Tytler.

Lakhwinder Kaur, widow of deceased Badal Singh who was killed during the carnage, moved an application through her counsel Rebecca M John before the court demanding a right to be heard before the court. "The injured or aggrieved parties do have a right to be heard. The investigating agency is bound to give notice to such parties and if they fail to do so, the court is bound to hear us as settled by the Supreme Court,'' John added. The counsel also claimed CBI never approached the widow during its investigation into the case.

The CBI, on the other hand, opposed their plea saying they had no locus standi in the matter. Further, the CBI said that the case was filed against unknown persons. "We have recommended prosecution of one accused Suresh Kumar Paniwala. Nobody was named in the FIR. It is only on the recommendation of Justice Nanavati Commission that we investigated role of Tytler and filed closure report finding no evidence against him,'' CBI counsel A K Srivastava submitted. CBI also argued on jurisdiction of the court.

CBI counsel Srivastava, who tried to attribute motives to petitioners by saying why they did not approach them before as it was a 25-year-old case, was strongly opposed by the petitioner's counsel alleging that he wanted to score brownie points. A protest petition was also filed by Kaur challenging CBI's closure report. Kaur also sought a copy of CBI report.

While reserving the order on Kaur's plea for June 3, additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) Rakesh Pandit, "Let me think. This is a very tricky thing. Its an academic issue for me and my five years of experience is at stake. I need some time to consider it.

Meanwhile, counsel H S Phoolka who has filed a defamation case against former union minister Jagdish Tytler, opposed the Tytler's plea seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case before ACMM Ajay Pandey, saying "nobody is above law.''

Tytler is accused of making defamatory remarks against the lawyer in programmes telecast by news channels in 2004. He was granted bail by the ACMM on April 18 after the case was transferred from Ludhiana by the apex court at his request.

Taking the reply of Phoolka, who is fighting court cases for victims and family members of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the court fixed July 18 for hearing arguments on the plea. The Congress leader had sought permanent exemption from personal appearance during the court proceedings on the ground that being a public figure, he has to perform manifold duties on a regular basis.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Twist-in-Tytler-case-wife-of-victim-wants-to-be-heard/articleshow/4570146.cms

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