SC adjourns plea of Jagtar Singh Hawara seeking transfer to Punjab jail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned for two weeks the hearing on a plea filed by Jagtar Singh Hawara, an accused in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, seeking his transfer from Tihar jail in Delhi to a prison in Punjab.

A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Chandigarh administration, sought time to respond to the petition.

During an earlier hearing on February 4, the Punjab government had opposed the transfer, arguing that Hawara could not be shifted to Punjab since he was facing trial in Chandigarh.

“He has no claim in Punjab. If he has to be transferred, it should be to Chandigarh UT,” the Advocate-General had told the court. He added that a similar plea had been dismissed by the Delhi High Court in 2018.

The Advocate-General also pointed out that Hawara was tried in Chandigarh, where he had once escaped from jail, and that the rules of Punjab prisons did not apply to Chandigarh. The Delhi government, too, had opposed the transfer, citing Punjab’s status as a border state and recommending Chandigarh as a more suitable location.

The bench had earlier directed the Centre, the Delhi government, and the Chandigarh administration to submit their responses to the plea.

Hawara, 54, has sought transfer to a Punjab jail citing good conduct and family reasons. He argued that the offence occurred during a period of social unrest in Punjab and that his 14-year-old daughter resides in the state.

He also claimed that no case is pending against him in Delhi, which is preventing him from participating in ongoing proceedings in Punjab.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing Hawara, told the court that all co-accused in the jailbreak case are currently lodged in Punjab jails.

He also mentioned that the Director-General (Prisons) had recommended Hawara’s transfer to Punjab as far back as October 7, 2016.