Beant Singh murder: SC defers hearing on Hawara's plea for transfer to Punjab jail
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred by two weeks hearing on Beant Singh murder convict Jagtar Singh Hawara's plea seeking his transfer from Delhi's Tihar jail to any prison in Punjab.
The Babbar Khalsa terrorist is serving life term in the case related to the killing of the former Punjab chief minister in 1995.
A bench comprising justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh adjourned the matter as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was not available.
On September 27 last year, the apex court issued notices to the Centre, Chandigarh administration and the Delhi and Punjab governments on Hawara's plea.
Hawara is serving imprisonment for the rest of his life in the case related to the blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat at Chandigarh on August 31, 1995 in which Beant Singh and 16 more people were killed.
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The plea filed in the apex court said Hawara's conduct in prison has been without blemish except for an alleged jail break on January 22, 2004 when he had escaped and was later arrested. It said he should be transferred from Tihar Jail in Delhi to any other prison in Punjab as there is no case pending against him in the national capital.
Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora, Tara and a murder convict Devi Singh had escaped from Chandigarh's high-security Burail Jail in January 2004 by digging a nearly 100-feet long tunnel.
Hawara and Bheora were re-arrested within the next two years. Tara, a proclaimed offender in this case, was arrested from Thailand, while Devi Singh is absconding and has also been declared a proclaimed offender.
"Petitioner (Hawara) is currently serving his life imprisonment till the rest of his life in a case registered in the state of Punjab... He is a native of state of Punjab, Fatehgarh Sahib district, and ought to be confined in a prison in Punjab," it said.
According to the plea, the petitioner had 36 false cases foisted on him after the murder of Beant Singh and he has been acquitted in all except one. One person convicted in the same case and also part of the jail break has been shifted from Tihar to a jail in Chandigarh, it said.
"The mere fact that the petitioner was considered a high-risk prisoner years ago is not a good enough reason today to keep the prisoner in Delhi and not shift him to Punjab," it said, adding that his daughter is in Punjab. Hawara's wife has died and his mother is in a coma in the US.
"The question that arises in this case is whether a person who has been accused of committing a murder in the context of serious social upheaval where tens of thousands of young Sikhs were extra-judicially executed by the state police on the instructions of the deceased Chief Minister Beant Singh, which offence has been characterised as exacerbated by his unsuccessful jail break attempt, but who has for the last 19 years led a life in prison which is without blemish can seek an order from this court for transfer to a jail in Punjab," the plea said.
In March 2007, Hawara was sentenced to death by a trial court in the case.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court in October 2010 commuted his sentence to life imprisonment with a direction that he shall not be released from jail for the rest of his life.
Hawara's petition said the appeals filed by him as well as by the prosecution against the high court verdict are pending in the apex court.
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SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
