New Delhi, Jul 12: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain Congress leader Jagdish Tytler's petition seeking grant of stay on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots trial against him.
The apex court said, the matter was presently before the Delhi High Court and it was not inclined to entertain his plea now.
The Delhi High Court on July 4 had refused to grant a stay on a lower court order directing further probe into Tytler's role in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
While refusing to grant stay, the Court also issued notice to the CBI and the complainant in the matter, Lakhwinder Kaur, seeking their reply on Tytler's plea by September 18.
While declining Tytler's plea for stay, the Delhi High Court said that the ongoing investigations were crucial and could not be stopped.
Appearing for Tytler, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi had sought a stay on the trial court order claiming that the trial court had no power to direct the method and mode of investigations.
Rohtagi had argued that his client was not given a hearing before passing of any order by the trial court.
On May 30 this year, Tytler had moved the High Court challenging the trial court order setting aside the CBI's closure report.
The CBI report had given Tytler a clean chit in the 29-year-old case. The trial court had also directed the probe agency at the time to examine eyewitnesses and other people claiming to have information about the riots.
Tytler in his plea has said that the trial court's order is contrary to the scheme of code of CrPC. The method and mode of investigation by a probe agency is the absolute prerogative of the agency and it is not for the court to direct the agency that which witness should be examined by it.
The trial court's order of further investigation had come on a plea by the riot victims against the CBI giving a clean chit to Tytler and filing a closure report.
Senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for petitioner Lakhwinder Kaur, had submitted that there was material which the agency has ignored and evidence was also there before the trial court against Tytler.
The CBI, however, had sought dismissal of the plea filed by the victim before the trial court, saying the probe has made it clear that Tytler was not present on November 1, 1984 at Gurudwara Pulbangash in North Delhi where three people were killed during riots in the aftermath of assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Tytler's alleged role in the case was reinvestigated by the CBI after the magistrate's court had in December 2007 refused to accept its closure report. CBI again gave a clean chit to Tytler on April 2, 2009, claiming lack of evidence against him in the case.
Then, in April this year, rejecting the CBI's closure report a Delhi Sessions court directed CBI to conduct an investigation again into Tytler's role. The court said the same after speaking to witnesses in the case.
