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New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday deferred by two weeks the hearing on a petition filed by Beant Singh assassination convict Jagtar Singh Hawara, who has sought his transfer from Tihar Jail in Delhi to a prison in Punjab.
A Bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh adjourned the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, informed the court of his unavailability.
Hawara, a member of the banned extremist outfit Babbar Khalsa, is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. Beant Singh and 16 others were killed in a powerful bomb blast outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.
In his plea, the 55-year-old prisoner has argued that he has maintained good conduct in jail and that the offence was committed during a period of intense social unrest in Punjab. He has also cited personal and legal grounds for the transfer, stating that his daughter resides in Punjab and that he is unable to effectively participate in court proceedings related to cases pending there while lodged in Delhi.
Hawara has further pointed out that all his co-accused are currently lodged in Punjab jails and that the then Director General (Prisons) had recommended his transfer to a Punjab prison as far back as October 7, 2016. He has contended that there is no criminal case pending against him in Delhi and that his continued incarceration in Tihar Jail is causing prejudice to his legal rights.
A special CBI court in 2007 had awarded the death sentence to Hawara and Balwant Singh Rajoana, while other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, in October 2010, the Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted Hawara’s death sentence to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. The prosecution’s appeal against that order remains pending before the Supreme Court.
The apex court had issued notice to the Centre and the governments of Delhi and Punjab on Hawara’s transfer plea on September 27, 2024. Hawara had earlier escaped from the high-security Burail Jail in Chandigarh in January 2004 but was re-arrested after about a year and returned to custody.The matter is now scheduled to be taken up after two weeks.
