The US-based key witness in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case wants to give his statement against former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler via video-conferencing.
NEW DELHI: The US-based key witness in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case wants to give his statement against former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler via video-conferencing to avoid travel and due to his personal security concerns, a court here was told on Thursday.
Jasbir Singh, while giving his California address to the court, cited difficulties in flying down to India at this stage, prompting the court to ask CBI about its suggestions on options available for recording his statement.
The CBI, however, told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjeev Jain that it would prefer recording his statement in person to establish his identity.
The court also directed Jasbir's counsel Navkiran Singh to tell how the witness could join the investigation in the case.
Both the parties would provide their replies on December 18.
Senior counsel for Sikh organisations -- Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and November '84 Carnage Justice Committee -- H S Phoolka told the court that Jasbir does not have a permanent resident status in the US due to which his visit to India would involve immigration problems.
He, however, added that a possible solution could be to record his testimony through video-conferencing held from the Indian Embassy in San Francisco.
Jasbir, who was declared untraced by the CBI which sought closure of the case against Tytler, had told the Nanavati Commission on August 31, 2000 that 'he had overheard Tytler rebuking his men on the night of November 3, 1984... for nominal killing of Sikhs in his constituency'.
The CBI appeared unconvinced by Jasbir's claim that he did not want to come due to personal security concerns.
However, the court took note of the witness's concerns and asked the investigating officer 'would you like to provide him (Jasbir) adequate security (on his coming to India)?'
The CBI, while stating that it came to know about the asurfacing of Jasbir through the media, said it would also like to establish the 'individual identity' of the man, who wants to come forward as a witness.
The arguments followed the court's order of November 29 in which it had asked Phoolka to furnish Jasbir's address.
In the very beginning, counsel for Jasbir urged the court to direct a re-investigation of the case.
He submitted that as the CBI has already sought closure of investigation against Tytler, the witness could not be called for his statement unless such an order was passed.
The case relates to an incident on November 1, 1984 - in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi -- when a mob set afire Gurdwara Pulbangash, killing three people.
As per the agency's chargesheet, while three persons were killed in the incident - Sardar Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Gurcharan Singh - charred bodies of two of them were found on which autopsy was conducted.
The agency said that despite its attempts to trace Jasbir, they failed to locate him as his family members did not provide much information on his whereabouts.
While the Sikh bodies have claimed that the CBI has not investigated the matter properly before deciding to close the case against Tytler, the agency claims that investigation was conducted after 'taking into account all aspects including the conspiracy angle'.
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