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Jagdish Tytler (born 17 August 1944) is an Indian National Congress politician and former Member of Parliament. He was the Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs, a position he resigned from after an official commission of inquiry, known as the Nanavati Commission, noted the balance of probability indicated he was involved in inciting and leading murderous mobs against the Sikh community in Delhi after Sikh bodyguards assassinated Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a charge he denies.

Due to the controversy concerning his involvement in the anti-Sikh riots, the Congress party dropped his name as the candidate for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

Early days

Tytler was born Jagdish Kapoor in the Punjabi city of Gujranwala in British India. He was brought up by the educationist James Douglas Tytler, the founder of many public schools including the Delhi Public School and the Summer Fields School. In 2011, his entry into the Puri's Jagannath Temple (which is reserved only for Hindus), caused a huge controversy in Orissa. Tytler denied having converted to Christianity, and stated that he had changed his name to show his gratitude towards James Douglas Tytler, who had brought him up.

Active in the Congress' youth organisation and a "disciple" of Sanjay Gandhi, he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. He served as a Union Minister first in the Civil Aviation department and then in the Labor department. He was re-elected in 1991 and served as the Union Minister of State for Surface Transport. In 2004, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha.

1984 anti-Sikh riots

On April, 2004 the Indian National Congress Party announced Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, R. K. Anand and others allegedly involved in the anti-Sikh riots, as its candidates for Indian Parliament elections for constituencies in and around Delhi. Sajjan Kumar, R. K. Anand, Darshan Sharstri and H. K. L. Bhagat were accused by several independent commissions of inquiry of being complicit in the riots, including the People's Union for Civil Liberties, the People's Union for Democratic Rights and the Citizen's Justice Committee.

The report of the Nanavati Commission looking into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots said that Tytler "very probably" had a hand in organising the attacks. The then Congress-led Government of India, however, decided not to prosecute him or anyone else named in the report due to lack of concrete evidence. In an interview to CNN-IBN, Nanavati said that the evidence against Tytler is not strong.

Tytler, who had been appointed minister of state with independent charge of non-resident affairs, claimed innocence, saying that it was a case of mistaken identity. He had not been named by eight earlier inquiry commissions set up to investigate the riots. On 10 August 2005, he resigned from the Union Council of Ministers.

Defamation allegations

In 2004, lawyer H. S. Phoolka filed a case in the Ludhiana court against Tytler, accusing Tytler of defaming him during a television programme in the same year. In 2014, Phoolka declined an "unconditional apology" from Tytler as a proposed settlement. The court framed charges against Tytler in 2015. As of July 2018, no verdict had been reached.

Reopening of the case in 2007

India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closed all cases against Tytler in November 2007 for his alleged criminal conspiracy to engineer riots against Sikhs in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination on 31 October 1984. The CBI submitted a report to the Delhi court which stated that no evidence or witness had been found to corroborate the allegations against Tytler of leading murderous mobs during 1984. It was also alleged in the court that Tytler, then a member of the Indian Parliament, was complaining to his supporters about relatively "small" number of Sikhs killed in his parliamentary constituency Delhi Sadar, which in his opinion had undermined his position in the ruling Indian National Congress party of India.

However, in December 2007, an alleged witness, Jasbir Singh, who lives in California, appeared on several television news channels in India, stating that he had not been contacted by the CBI. India's main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanded an explanation. The Minister of State for Personnel, Suresh Pachouri, who was in charge of the department responsible for the CBI, refused to make a statement.

On 18 December 2007, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi court, Sanjeev Jain, who had earlier dismissed the case after the CBI's report to his court, ordered the CBI to reopen cases against Tytler relating to the riots.

In December 2008, a two-member CBI team was sent to New York to record the statements of two eyewitnesses, Jasbir Singh and Surinder Singh. The two witnesses have stated that they saw Tytler lead a mob during the riots, but did not want to come to India as they feared for their security.

"Clean chit" by CBI in 2009

In March 2009, when the CBI filed its final report on investigation into the riots case, the BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar alleged that "such a clean chit ahead of the elections" implied that the CBI had been misused. Hundreds of Sikh protestors gathered outside the Karkardooma courts and raised slogans against Tytler and other Congress party senior leaders allegedly involved in the riots.

On 7 April 2009, the then Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, had a shoe thrown at him by Jarnail Singh, a Sikh journalist, during a press conference in Delhi. Singh, who works at the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, was dissatisfied with Chidambaram's answer to a question about the "clean chit" given to Tytler.

Denial of Lok Sabha ticket

After this shoe throwing incident, the Congress party dropped both Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as Congress candidates for the Lok Sabha elections of 2009. Tytler accused the media of victimizing him through a media trial. Tytler blamed the Shiromani Akali Dal and his "enemies" within the Congress party for scuttling his nomination.

2013 Sessions Court decision

In April 2013, a Sessions Court rejected the CBI report and ordered investigation against Tytler. Witnesses in the subsequent investigation have included Abhishek Verma and Amitabh Bachchan.

References

1. Changing Electoral Politics in Delhi: From Caste to Class, SAGE, p.95, Sanjay Kumar
2. "Bio-Data of Jagdish Singh Tytler". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 14 July 2004. Archived from the original on 28 June 2004.
3. Ruckus in Orissa assembly over Tytler's Jagannath Temple visit
4. Jagdish Tytler clarifies, BJD cries riots
5. "Indian politicians clash over report on anti-Sikh riots". CBC News. 9 August 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
6. Justice Nanavati talks to IBN-CNN on YouTube
7. "Tytler granted bail in defamation case". India Today. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
8. "Defamation case: Jagdish Tytler offers apology, H S Phoolka refuses". The Economic Times. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
9. "Defamation case: Jagdish Tytler withdraws plea in HC". Business Standard. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
10. Archived 20 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
11. "Fresh probe into India politician". BBC News. 18 December 2007.
12. Re-probe Tytler’s role: Court Archived 7 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
13. BJP to govt: Clear stand on anti-Sikh riots' witness
14. 1984 riots: CBI to re-investigate Tytler's role
15. Anti Sikh riots witness to give statement to CBI in US
16. "CBI files final report in anti-Sikh riot case against Tytler". DNA. PTI. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
17. The Times of India
18. Congress drops Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar
19. Sheila shooed me out
20. Sessions court rejects CBI’s clean chit to Tytler. The Hindu, 10 April 2013
21. "Abhishek Verma testimony to be recorded".
22. "Amitabh Bachchan witness in Tytler case".

External links

• "I am innocent: Tytler" - rediff.com article dated 8 August 2005
• NDTV X-Factor discussion about involvement of HKL Bhagat, Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and Congress Party in 1984 riots on YouTube
• antisystemic.org, After Apology, Congress Tries to Scuttle Sikh Massacre Report
• NDTV Interview of HS Phoolka and Jagdish Tytler on YouTube

• 1944 births
• Living people
• Indian National Congress politicians
• 1984 anti-Sikh riots
• 14th Lok Sabha members
• People from Delhi
• 7th Lok Sabha members
• 8th Lok Sabha members
• 10th Lok Sabha members
• Lok Sabha members from Delhi
• Civil aviation ministers of India
• Indian Hindus