Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on Jagtar Hawara’s plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response of the Centre and others on a plea by Babbar Khalsa terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara, who is serving a life sentence in the assassination case of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, seeking transfer from Delhi’s Tihar jail to any jail in Punjab.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Vishwanathan issued notices to the Centre and the governments of Delhi and Punjab on Hawara’s plea.

Hawara is serving a life sentence for the rest of his life for killing the then Chief Minister Beant Singh and 16 others in a blast at the main entrance gate of the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.

The petition filed in the apex court said that barring the incident of escape from Chandigarh’s Burail jail on January 22, 2004 by digging a tunnel (though Hawara was later arrested), Hawara’s conduct in the jail has been fine.