SC notice to Delhi Govt on Jagtar Hawara’s request seeking transfer from Tihar Jail to Punjab

PTC Web Desk: The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Delhi Government on Friday regarding Jagtar Singh Hawara’s petition seeking his transfer from Tihar Jail to a prison in Punjab. Hawara (54), is convicted in the murder case of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

A Bench led by Justice BR Gavai requested the Delhi Government to respond to Hawara’s petition, which also called for the production of all records concerning his conduct during his incarceration. In reference to Jagtar Singh Hawara’s jailbreak from the high-security Burail jail on January 22, 2004, Justice Gavai asked senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, representing Hawara, how he managed to dig a large hole in the jail. Gonsalves pointed out that nearly 20 years have passed since the jailbreak incident and nearly 30 years since the assassination of Beant Singh.

Hawara, who was re-arrested a year later, stated that his behaviour in prison has been exemplary since his return. He noted that all co-accused involved in the jailbreak are now in Punjab jails and that the Director General (Prisons) had recommended his transfer to Punjab nearly eight years ago, on October 7, 2016. He further claimed that he has no pending cases against him in Delhi.

Hawara’s petition highlighted that he faced 36 false cases after Beant Singh’s murder, of which he has been acquitted in all except one. He argued that his incarceration in Delhi prevents him from attending court proceedings, leading to judicial processes occurring without his presence, which he believes is prejudicial to his case. His petition also mentioned that two co-accused, Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, who were involved in the jailbreak, are still in custody in Punjab.

Beant Singh and 16 others were killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. Hawara was arrested on September 21 of the same year. In 2007, a special CBI court sentenced Hawara and Balwant Singh Rajoana to death, while co-accused Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh, and Shamsher Singh received life sentences for their roles in the assassination conspiracy. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court modified Hawara’s sentence to life imprisonment in October 2010, with the prosecution's appeal against this ruling pending in the Supreme Court.

Rajoana’s mercy petition has been unresolved for over 12 years. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court instructed the Centre and the Punjab Government to respond to Rajoana’s plea for commutation of his death sentence, citing the Centre's failure to decide on his mercy petition filed on March 25, 2012. On May 3, 2023, the court declined to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment and urged the Centre to consider the mercy plea as necessary.