'Jaitley close aide defended Tytler'

The controversy over “clean chit” to Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots by Capt Amarinder Singh took a curious turn on Wednesday after riot victims from Delhi questioned the alleged double standards of BJP candidate Arun Jaitely claiming it was Jaitley’s close aide and associate Mukul Rohtagi who had been defending Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar in the courts.

They claimed that Rohtagi was also defending Narendra Modi in various courts for cases related to Gujarat riots.

Rohtagi was recently seen in Amritsar campaigning for Jaitley, claimed 1984 Sikh Qatal-e-aam Insaaf Committee president Gurdeep Singh Kahlon today in Amritsar. He was flanked by former DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna and Charanjit Singh Channi. In a press release issued on Wednesday from Amritsar, they also alleged that Jaitley had facilitated a compromise between Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and Parkash Singh Badal in 2001.

 “They wanted to bail out the RSS-BJP workers involved in riots and in the bargain offered a compromise on Tytler and Kumar”, Kahlon alleged. The riot victims asked why were Jaitley and Badal silent about the role of RSS and BJP workers in anti-Sikh riots.

They accused Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal of exploiting the issue of 1984 riots for political gains. Addressing mediapersons, they asked as to why Badal sent back Rs 260 crore meant for riot victims. They said, the Centre under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had provided Rs 460 crore for distribution among the riot victims. Capt Amarinder distributed Rs 200 crore at Rs 2 lakhs each.

But after Badal came to power, he stopped payment and money was returned to Centre, they claimed.