NEW DELHI: The Intelligence Bureau (IB) on Tuesday opposed the transfer of Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted in the 1995 assassination of then-Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, from Delhi’s Tihar Jail to a prison in Punjab, telling the Supreme Court that the move could have a “huge impact” on the upcoming assembly elections in the state.The agency also classified Hawara as a high-risk prisoner and said he should not be shifted to Punjab. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and P B Varale described the IB report as “very damning” while hearing Hawara’s plea seeking a transfer to a prison in his home state.Senior advocate S Muralidhar, appearing for Hawara, told the court, “If elections are a concern, this may be taken up after three months.” The Supreme Court posted the matter for hearing in February next year. Elections to the 117-member Punjab Assembly are due early next year.Beant Singh, who served as Punjab chief minister from 1992 to 1995, was killed in a suicide bombing outside the state civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. The blast also killed 16 others. Hawara, a member of the banned Babbar Khalsa International, was convicted in the assassination case and is serving a life sentence for the remainder of his natural life.
Why is Hawara seeking a transfer?
Hawara’s plea argues that he is a native of Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib district and should be allowed to serve his sentence in a prison in the state. It also says there are no cases pending against him in Delhi and that his conduct in prison has been without blemish, apart from a jailbreak in January 2004.Hawara was among four inmates who escaped from Chandigarh’s high-security Burail Jail on January 22, 2004, by digging a nearly 100-foot-long tunnel. The other escapees were Paramjit Singh Bheora, Jagtar Singh Tara and Devi Singh. Hawara and Bheora were subsequently arrested, while Tara was caught in Thailand. Devi Singh remains absconding.Opposing the transfer, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Delhi government, had earlier told the Supreme Court that Hawara’s jailbreak history raised the risk of another escape. She also cited a Union home ministry advisory on the transfer of high-risk prisoners and the Punjab government’s concerns over the possible impact on law and order.
Join conversation
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
Hawara was sentenced to death by a trial court in March 2007. The Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in October 2010, directing that he should not be released for the rest of his life. Appeals against the high court verdict are pending before the Supreme Court.