It has been 29 years since the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the large-scale attack on Sikhs by mobs in the Indian capital. Some Delhi Congressmen were alleged to have instigated the violence, but the cases against them have not reached a conclusion. One of them is Jagdish Tytler, a former Union minister. He was denied a Congress ticket for the last Lok Sabha election in deference to Sikh sentiment, but victims’ families look for a legal finality.
Mr Tytler was actually cleared of the charges against him by a magistrate’s court acting on the basis of CBI investigations. But the trial court will have none of it, as became clear on Wednesday. It took the view that the CBI did not bring on record four persons claiming to be witnesses to the cold-blooded killing of a Sikh man in those insane times. This includes the widow of the deceased.
The Congress leader cannot still be deemed guilty, but the observation of the trial court is an open criticism of the CBI. The clear implication is that the investigative agency bends to the wishes of those in power. In the political season preceding the general election, this is doubtless bad news for the Congress, and the BJP, its main opponent, has sought to make the most of it. The lesson is that the CBI must conclude its work in the case speedily and impartially. Too much time has passed and closure is not in sight.