Supreme Court Directs Making Chandigarh UT A Party In Ex-Punjab CM Assassination Case Convict's Plea For Transfer From Tihar Jail

The Supreme Court yesterday(February 4) said that the Union Territory of Chandigarh must be made a party in the petition filed by Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted in the 1995 assassination of former Chief Minister of Punjab Beant Singh and 16 others, for transfer from Tihar jail to any jail in Punjab. The Court noted the necessity of the Chandigarh Administration because Hawara was tried and lodged in Budhail Jail in Chandigarh, from where he was subsequently shifted to Delhi. The petitioner has been asked to implead the UT administration as a party.The Court has directed the NCT of Delhi and Union to also file a reply along with the Chandigarh Administration within 4 weeks. Hawara was convicted on July 27, 2007, under Sections 120-B, 302, 307 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3(b), 4(b) and 5(b) r/w 6 of the Explosives Substances Act, 1908. 15 accused were convicted, out of which two including Hawara and Balwant Singh Rajoana were sentenced to death, while others were sentenced to life imprisonment.On September 27, last year, a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Vishwanathan issued notice in the transfer petition in which it has been stated that as per the Punjab Prison Manual and Punjab Prison Rules, the petitioner was bound to stay at a central jail of his own State. It has also been pointed out that no case is pending against the petitioner in Delhi. Other grounds raised in the petition are that his conduct in jail is good, the crime took place in the background of serious social upheaval, his daughter resides in Punjab and he is unable to attend court proceedings pending in one case to name a few.The matter was yesterday heard by a bench of Justices Gavai and KV Chauhan in which Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves (for Hawara) submitted that all other co-convicts are lodged in Punjab and he is the only one lodged in Delhi. In the petition, it has been pleaded that all others convicted in Beant Singh's murder case, that is, Balwant Singh Rajoana, Jagtar Singh Tara, Paramjit Singh Bheora, Gurmeet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Lakhwinder Singh Lakha were also sent to Punjab.The petitioner was lodged at Budhail Jail, Chandigarh during trial, where he dug a tunnel in the jail and absconded in 2004. He was re-arrested in 2005 in another case and was transmitted from Chandigarh to Delhi. It is stated that Paramjit Singh, who is similarly situated as the petitioner and was convicted, was also a part of the jailbreak. He has been shifted from Tihar Jail to Chandigarh.On the jailbreak, Gonsalves pleaded that 20 years have passed since the jailbreak and his conduct has been good so far. He said: "Chronology goes like this-1984 was operation Bluestar. 1984 was the killings in Delhi and Punjab. Immediately after that, we have the assassination of the Chief Minister [of Punjab]. The accused was 21 years old at the time of the crime. It was a political killing of sort, angry with what was happening with the killings in Delhi and Punjab. He was arrested on 21.9.1995, immediately a month after killing. His conduct in jail since then, for 28 has been good. The assassination took place in the background of widespread social upheaval such as Delhi riots and killing in Punjab. All this is now history. This is similar to Perarivalan case which was a reaction to the intervention by Indian Army in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka. Perarivalan was given commutation to life and not a commutation to life until death. SLP has been pending in this Court for 13 years against that High Court order."When Justice Gavai asked if there was any report available from the Tihar Jail, the Court was told that the NCT of Delhi is yet to file a counter in this matter. While he was undergoing sentence, on October 12, 2010, the Punjab & Haryana Court confirmed the conviction of Hawara but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment for the rest of his life. Against this, appeals filed before the Supreme Court remain pending. Against this, the Advocate General of Punjab Gurminder Singh objected to his transfer along with the Additional Advocate General. He submitted that the convicted petitioner was lodged in Chandigarh where he was tried. It was also informed that in 2018, the petitioner sought transfer from Tihar jail before the Delhi High Court, which was dismissed by an order on July 23, 2018. This has never been challenged. Gonsalves however added that even after the petitioner committed jailbreak, he was kept in Chandigarh for many years. He was only transferred because there was a case filed against him but that is no more there because there has been an acquittal.Justice Gavai: "Mr. Gurminder Singh, is it a matter of fact that all others are in Chandigarh?"Singh responded that during the hearings before the Delhi High Court, the Delhi Government had taken a stand that in view of the law and order situation and the intelligence report, and given that Punjab is sensitive in terms of the fact that it is a border State, the petitioner...

Supreme Court Directs Making Chandigarh UT A Party In Ex-Punjab CM Assassination Case Convict's Plea For Transfer From Tihar Jail

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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