Will quit politics if charges are proved: Jagdish Tytler

In dock after court ordered reopening of case for his alleged involvement in 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler offered to quit politics if charges against him are proved.

New Delhi: In the dock after a court ordered reopening of a case for his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on Thursday offered to quit politics if charges against him are proved. Tytler, who claimed that witnesses have changed their statements number of times, said he is also ready to undergo a lie detector test and dared them to also submit themselves to the test.

"If the charges against me are proved... I will quit politics," he said, adding, he would not show his face to his party if the charges are framed. "If the court frames charges against me, I will not stay for a minute on any position which I hold because this will cause a lot of embarrassment to the party and I consider the party above everything else," Tytler told NDTV. He is party in-charge of Odisha and also a member of the Congress Working Committee. Not ruling out the possibility of the witnesses being planted, he said all of them including him and the lawyer of the riot victims H S Phoolka should be put to a lie detector test. "Anybody can make a statement against anybody, but the statement must be examined. The truth must come out. There is a possibility that some of the witnesses were planted. Those two witnesses (Surinder Singh and Jasbir Singhand), myself and Phulka, we should all have this lie detection test," he said. He claimed he was not present at the scene of crime and that he was "100 per cent open" for a probe into the carnage. "I have produced a footage by Doordarshan which shows that I was present with the body of Mrs Gandhi from 7 AM to 3 O` clock.. How can I be at two place at the same time," he told television channels. He was particularly critical of Surinder and Jasbir, blaming them for the reopening the case against him. "My name comes back on the basis of the statement made by Surinder Singh and Jasbir Singh. Surinder Singh first gave a statement in English and then gave a written statement in Gurumukhi. I want to know that why Phoolka forced Surinder Singh to write a statement," Tytler said. PTI