The Punjab and Haryana High Court has laid down a detailed, time-bound procedure for deciding the parole application of Jagtar Singh Hawara, a life convict in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. The Division Bench of Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur directed that the Superintendent of Central Jail No. 15, Mandoli, New Delhi, is the competent authority to decide the parole request, not the Chandigarh Administration.
Background of the Case
Hawara is currently serving his sentence in Central Jail No. 15, Mandoli, after being transferred there by the Ministry of Home Affairs following a jail-break incident in which he escaped custody and remained absconding before being rearrested. He had approached the High Court seeking four weeks' parole to care for his 81-year-old mother, whose health, according to the petition, was “rapidly deteriorating on account of advanced age related physical & cognitive disorders.”
Who Decides Parole?
Appearing for the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the State counsel argued that under the Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act as applicable to Chandigarh, “a decision with respect to the temporary release of a convict is to be taken by the Superintendent of the Jail, where a convict is undergoing his sentence.” Since Hawara is lodged in Mandoli Jail, the Chandigarh Administration was not the authority empowered to decide his parole application and was required only to furnish its report whenever called upon to do so.
The Union Territory further relied on the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, submitting that the Rules provide that parole shall not be granted to convicts involved in “sedition, terrorist activities and also to those who are also involved in an escape bid.” However, it maintained that the question of eligibility was also for the Superintendent of Central Jail No. 15, Mandoli, to examine while deciding the parole application.
Court's Directions
The Bench ordered: “The Superintendent, Central Jail No.15, Mandoli, shall re-direct / forward the request of the petitioner for grant of parole to the Home Secretary, Union Territory, Chandigarh within a period of one week…”
It further directed: “On receipt of the request, the Union Territory, Chandigarh shall submit its comments / recommendations to the Superintendent of the Central Jail No.15, Mandoli within a further period of four weeks, as per law.”
The Bench added: “On receipt of the comments / recommendation, the Superintendent of the Central Jail No.15, Mandoli shall take a decision on the parole application within a further period of two weeks thereafter.”
Before parting with the matter, the Bench observed: “Needless to mention that all authorities whose reports are to be obtained/filed shall also take a special note of the timelines….”
Details of the Assassination
Former Chief Minister Beant Singh was killed in a blast outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat on August 31, 1995. The explosion killed 17 people, including the believed-to-be human bomb Dilawar Singh. Hawara and co-convict Balwant Singh were awarded the death sentence by the trial court on July 31, 2007. Hawara escaped the gallows on October 12, 2010, after the death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment. He was directed to remain behind bars till his last. Balwant Singh’s death sentence was upheld.
