Today, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, requesting a stay on the trial court proceedings concerning the case involving the killing of three individuals during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Tytler has requested a stay on the trial court proceedings until his petition challenging the framing of murder charges against him is decided by the High Court.

A single judge bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri heard the matter today but did not issue a formal stay order. The Court stated that arguments on the petition seeking a stay on the trial court proceedings will continue, but no stay has been granted in the interim.

Tytler has requested that the trial court proceedings be scheduled for a date after the hearing of his criminal revision petition, which challenges the murder charges against him. The petition is currently pending and is set for hearing on November 29.

“It is most respectfully submitted that the captioned criminal revision petition raised substantial questions upon the motivation of the prosecution and the investigation conducted by the respondent CBI, therefore, an order/ direction from this Hon'ble Court for the Ld. Trial Court to not proceed with the captioned matter till the pendency of the captioned petition is expedient in the interests of justice,” his plea says.

Tytler has argued that although the trial court had been vacant following the retirement of the previous judge who framed charges against him, the examination-in-chief of a prosecution witness was conducted with the link judge, after repeated requests from both the CBI and the victim.

Senior Advocate Arvind Nigam appeared on behalf of Tytler, while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was represented by Special Public Prosecutor Anupam S. Sharma. Charges have been framed against Tytler for murder and other offenses, including unlawful assembly and rioting.

Following the recommendations of the Justice Nanawati Commission, the Union Government directed the CBI to re-investigate the cases against Tytler and several others. In line with this directive, the CBI re-registered an FIR in November 2005. However, no action was recommended against Tytler in the chargesheet filed by the CBI. Subsequently, a supplementary chargesheet was filed against him in May of the previous year.

Tytler contends that the order framing charges against him is perverse, illegal, and reflects a lack of proper consideration by the trial court. He has argued that this case is a clear example of a witch hunt and harassment, where he is being made to face trial for an alleged offense that occurred more than forty years ago.