Beant Singh Murder: SC Seeks Centre's Response On Jagtar Singh Hawara's Petition For Transfer To Punjab Prison

A bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice K V Viswanathan issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi and Punjab governments seeking their responses on Hawara's plea.

Hawara is serving life imprisonment for the rest of his life in the case related to the murder of Singh in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat at Chandigarh on August 31, 1995 in which 16 others were also killed.

The plea filed in the Apex Court said Hawara's conduct in prison has been clear except for an alleged jail break which took place on January 22, 2004 when he had escaped and was later arrested.

"How were you (Hawara) successful in digging a tunnel," the bench asked Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who appeared for Hawara.

Gonsalves said, "Today, we are almost 30 years from the main incident and we are 20 years from the jail break."

The bench issued notice on his plea and posted it for hearing after four weeks.

The plea, filed through advocate Satya Mitra, has sought Hawara's transfer from Tihar Jail in Delhi to any other prison in Punjab saying there was no case pending against him which is registered in the national capital.

It has also sought a direction to the respondents to produce before court the entire records of Hawara regarding his conduct in prison during his incarceration till today.

"Petitioner (Hawara) is currently serving his life imprisonment till the rest of his life in a case registered in the state of Punjab... He is a native of state of Punjab, Fategarh Sahib district, and ought to be confined in a prison in Punjab," it said.

The plea said since Hawara's re-arrest after the jail break till today, 19 years have passed and the performance of the petitioner in jail has been without blemish.

It claimed the petitioner had 36 false cases foisted on him after the murder of Beant Singh and he has been acquitted in all except one case.

The plea said one of the persons, who is similarly situated as Hawara and was convicted in the same murder case and was also part of the jail break, has been shifted from Tihar jail to a jail in Chandigarh.

"The mere fact that the petitioner is considered a high-risk prisoner years ago is not a good enough reason today to keep the prisoner in Delhi and not shift him to Punjab," it said.

"It is also submitted that there is no provision to keep the petitioner confined in a prison in Delhi when there is no case pending against him in the respondent state. Also, as the only ongoing case in which the petitioner prisoner has been imprisoned for the rest of his life is registered in Chandigarh, the petitioner will be governed by the Rules of the state of Punjab," the plea said.

It said one of the reasons for seeking transfer to a jail in Punjab was that Hawara's daughter is in Punjab. It said while the petitioner's wife has died, his mother is in coma in USA.

"The question that arises in this case is whether a person who has been accused of committing a murder in the context of serious social upheaval where tens of thousands of young Sikhs were extra-judicially executed by the state police on the instructions of the deceased Chief Minister Beant Singh, which offence has been characterised as exacerbated by his unsuccessful jail break attempt, but who has for the last 19 years led a life in prison which is without blemish can seek an order from this court for transfer to a jail in Punjab," the plea said.

In March 2007, Hawara was sentenced to death by a trial court in the case.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had in October 2010 commuted his sentence to life imprisonment with a direction that he shall not be released from jail till the rest of his life.

Hawara's petition said the appeals filed by him as well as by the prosecution against the High court verdict are pending in the Apex Court.