The Delhi High Court today asked the police to extend the additional security provided to controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma, a witness in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, till he undergoes the lie detection test later this month.
The court also directed the Delhi Police to comply with its previous order by which it was directed that two more personnel for personal security of Verma, his wife and mother, till Tueday.
Before this, the police was providing one security personnel to Verma round-the-clock following a trial court order.
“This protection be extended till the lie detection test is conducted,” Justice Ashutosh Kumar said and disposed of Verma’s petition seeking enhancement of his security.
The court also told Verma: “Anybody can keep writing letters, you should not bother. Everybody who is in possession of some documents keep receiving threats including judicial officers. Does this mean anything? It should not bother you.”
When Verma’s counsel Maninder Singh said that despite the order he was not provided with two more security men, the court asked the police to comply with its September 27 order.
“You have to comply with the court order. Continue with it till he undergoes the lie detection test. What is the difficulty in it? When there is a court order, you have to comply with it,” the court told Delhi police counsel.
Verma’s counsel informed the court that his test was scheduled to be conducted between October 3 and 6 but it has been postponed and would be done after Diwali.
Claiming that Verma was receiving threatening emails and phone calls that he would be killed, the counsel had sought more security for Verma and his family members so that he can appear fearlessly for the test.
While Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, who has been given clean chit thrice by the CBI, has refused to undergo the test, Verma had given conditional consent saying he was ready to undergo the test if he was provided round-the-clock security as he feared threat to his life.
The plea was earlier supported by senior advocate H S Phoolka, representing the riot victims, saying Tytler was a powerful person and security should be provided to Verma so that he gets confidence to appear for the polygraph test.
The CBI had earlier told the trial court the government- run forensic science laboratory in Rohini here has confirmed the dates of conducting the test on Verma which will be done from October 3 to 6, which has now been deferred.
The case pertains to the riots at Gurudwara Pulbangash in North Delhi where three people were killed on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Tytler, who has denied any role in the riots, was thrice given clean chit by the CBI in the case, but the agency was directed by the court to further investigate the matter. The victims had filed a protest petition challenging the CBI’s closure reports in the case.
The agency had reinvestigated the case of killing of Badal Singh, Thakur Singh and Gurcharan Singh near the gurudwara after a court in December 2007 refused to accept its closure report.