New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday termed as 'unreliable' a key witness of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, who had testified against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, while clarifying its stand and giving a clean chit to the former central minister.

Reading out the affidavits of the witness, Surinder Singh, filed at different times, the probe agency said he remained silent for 17 years and recorded his statement only in 2001 before the Nanawati Commission, in which he named Tytler as an accused.

'However, in later affidavits given in August 2002, and on April 7, 2006, Surinder denied making any allegation against Tytler and said he could not comprehend the contents of the first affidavit as it was in English,' the CBI's counsel told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit.

The CBI counsel also played a CD in which Surinder had denied that Tytler was involved in the carnage.

Opposing the CBI's contention, lawyer H.S.Phoolka, appearing for the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (DSGPC) and November 84 Carnage Justice Committee, said: 'The CBI, instead of doing its own investigation, is relying upon the materials supplied by the accused.'

Surinder Singh died on July 13 this year.

The court, which is hearing the CBI's arguments on its closure report filed against Tytler, scheduled further proceedings for Feb 10, 2010.

The CBI had earlier submitted a CD to the court, which sought to prove Tytler was present at the residence of assassinated prime minister Indira Gandhi and not at the riot site.

The alleged role of Tytler in a case relating to the killing of three people Nov 1, 1984, in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination, was re-investigated by the CBI after a court had earlier refused to accept its closure report in December 2007.