Case against Tytler transferred to Delhi court

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday transferred from a Ludhiana court to a Delhi court the trial of senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for making defamatory statements against a lawyer representing the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the national capital.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathashivam transferred Tytler's trial to a lower court in Delhi on his plea for the transfer on the grounds that he faced threat to his life in Punjab.

In his petition to the apex court, Tytler said he faced threat in Punjab due to popular perception and wide-spread allegations that he was one among the several Congress leaders who instigated riots against Sikhs following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi Oct 30, 1984.

A Ludhiana court had issued a bailable arrest warrant against Tytler Sept 11 this year on a plea by advocate H.S. Phoolka, who sought defamation proceedings against the Congress leader.

Phoolka in his petition to the Ludhiana court in 2004 said Tytler had made some defamatory remarks against him during a television show, in which both were present.

Tytler earlier had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for transfer of the criminal case against him outside Punjab as, he said, he apprehended danger to his life from Sikh militants.

But the high court refused to grant him the relief, telling him to appear before the trial court Nov 28.

But a week prior to his date with the trial court, Tytler moved the apex court Nov 21.