SC delays Hawara’s transfer plea from Tihar to Punjab jail

Supreme Court Delays Hearing on Jagtar Singh Hawara’s Transfer Request

The Supreme Court on Tuesday postponed by two weeks the hearing on Jagtar Singh Hawara’s plea. Hawara seeks to be transferred from Delhi’s Tihar jail to any prison in Punjab. He is a convict in the Beant Singh murder case and is serving a life term. The bench, which includes justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, adjourned the matter because solicitor general Tushar Mehta was unavailable.

Background of the Case

On September 27 last year, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, Chandigarh administration, and the Delhi and Punjab governments regarding Hawara’s plea. Hawara is serving life imprisonment for the blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. This incident resulted in the deaths of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and 16 others.

Plea Details

The plea states that Hawara’s conduct in prison has been good, except for an alleged jail break on January 22, 2004. He escaped but was later arrested. The plea argues that he should be moved from Tihar Jail to a prison in Punjab, as there are no pending cases against him in Delhi.

Arguments for Transfer

The petition claims, “Petitioner (Hawara) is currently serving his life imprisonment till the rest of his life in a case registered in the state of Punjab.” It adds that he is from Fatehgarh Sahib district in Punjab and should be confined there. The plea also mentions that Hawara has faced 36 false cases after Beant Singh’s murder and has been acquitted in all but one. It notes that another convict from the same case was moved from Tihar to a jail in Chandigarh.

Family Circumstances

The plea states that Hawara’s daughter lives in Punjab. His wife has died, and his mother is in a coma in the US. It argues that being labeled a high-risk prisoner years ago is not a valid reason to keep him in Delhi now.

Legal History

In March 2007, a trial court sentenced Hawara to death. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment in October 2010. The court directed that he shall not be released from jail for the rest of his life. Hawara’s petition notes that appeals from both him and the prosecution against the high court verdict are still pending in the Supreme Court.