New Delhi: The CBI on Monday moved the Supreme
Court seeking death penalty for Babbar Khalsa terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara, the mastermind in the sensational killing of
Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995, saying the offence
falls under the category of `rarest of rare` cases.
The agency has approached the apex court challenging the
Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment which had commuted the
death penalty of Hawara on October 12, 2010 and had sentenced
him to life imprisonment "till death", holding that it was a
borderline case for capital punishment.
"We are pressing for death penalty on the grounds that
the case fall under the category of `rarest of rare` cases. It
was a most serious offence where 17 people were killed
including a chief minister of a state and 15 were injured,"
Additional Solicitor General Harin P Raval said.
"The role of Balwant Singh (a co-accused) was lesser than
that of Hawara. This man was the kingpin who planned the
entire conspiracy," Raval said.
The high court had upheld the death sentence given by the
trial court to Balwant Singh while confirming the life
sentence of three others--Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and
Lakhwinder Singh.
Suicide bomber Dilawar Singh and his accomplices killed
73-year-old Beant Singh in a blast on August 31, 1995 at the
entrance of the 10-storeyed civil secretariat at Chandigarh in
which 17 others were also killed. Dilawar Singh too was killed
in the explosion.
PTI
