Why not death to you, apex court asks Hawara

December 5th, 2011 - 10:13 pm ICT by IANS  

New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday issued a notice to Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted for involvement in the assassination of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, on a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that his life imprisonment term be enhanced to death penalty.

Hawara, a terrorist belonging to the Babbar Khalsa International, was convicted by a trial court and awarded death sentence for masterminding the assassination of Beant Singh. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment in October 2010.

An apex court bench headed by Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice T.S.Thakur issued a notice Monday on the CBI’s plea challenging the high court order and seeking the restoration of Hawara’s death penalty.

The CBI in its plea contended that Hawara was the kingpin who masterminded the assassination of Beant Singh.

The investigating agency said that his case fell in rarest of the rare category and thus he should be awarded the death sentence.

The court was told that by Hawara’s action, 17 people including the chief minister were killed and 15 others were injured.

Describing Hawara’s case as a “boundary line for death”, the high court had commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment on October 12, 2010.

He was awarded death sentence by the trial court in July 2007.

The high court had said that life sentence for Hawara meant that he would not be released from jail till his death.

A suicide bomber, Dilawar Singh, and his accomplices killed Beant Singh in a blast on Aug 31, 1995, outside the state secretariat in Chandigarh.

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