The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned for two weeks the hearing on a plea by Jagtar Singh Hawara, the Babbar Khalsa militant convicted in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, seeking transfer from Delhi’s Tihar Jail to a prison in Punjab.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh deferred the matter owing to the unavailability of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
Hawara, who is currently serving a life sentence for his role in the 1995 bomb blast that killed Beant Singh and 16 others at the Chandigarh civil secretariat, has argued that he should be lodged in a Punjab prison, given his roots in the state and the absence of any pending cases against him in Delhi.
In his petition before the apex court, Hawara, a native of Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab, pointed out that his conduct in prison has been without blemish over the past 19 years, except for a 2004 jail break attempt. He contended that continuing his incarceration in Delhi’s Tihar Jail is unjustified, especially when a co-convict in the same case—who was also part of the jailbreak—has already been shifted to a prison in Chandigarh.
“The mere fact that the petitioner was considered a high-risk prisoner years ago is not a good enough reason today to keep him in Delhi and not shift him to Punjab,” the plea stated. It added that his daughter lives in Punjab, his wife has passed away, and his mother is currently in a coma in the United States.
Hawara further claimed that 36 false cases were foisted upon him following the assassination, but he has been acquitted in all except one. The petition emphasized that he is not facing any active case in the capital and that keeping him in Delhi imposes an unnecessary hardship.
Hawara was initially sentenced to death by a trial court in March 2007. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in October 2010, directing that he should remain incarcerated for the rest of his life. Appeals filed by both Hawara and the prosecution against the High Court’s ruling are still pending in the Supreme Court.
The apex court had earlier, on September 27, 2023, issued notices to the Centre, Delhi and Punjab governments, and the Chandigarh administration on Hawara’s transfer plea.
In a broader context, the petition raises questions about whether a convict who was once deemed a high-security risk but has maintained exemplary conduct for nearly two decades can seek relocation to a prison closer to his roots and family.
The case will now be taken up by the Supreme Court after two weeks.
