Supreme Court clears trial of ex-Punjab CM Beant Singh's assassin Jagtar Singh 'Tara'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the trial of former Punjab CM Beant Singh's assassin Jagtar Singh 'Tara'.

The Supreme Court has issued directions to send the file to Chandigarh Sessions Court so that trial of accused Jagtar Singh Tara can begin.

Jagtar Singh 'Tara' was arrested from Thailand in January on a tip-off about his movements by the Punjab Police. As per reports, he was arrested from the house of a man who was sheltering Tara at the behest of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

Self-styled commander of terror outfit Khalistan Tiger Force, Jagtar Singh 'Tara' was one of the masterminds in the brutal assassination of Beant Singh by a human bomb outside Punjab Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. Besides Beant Singh, 17 others had lost their lives in the blast.

The suicide bombing was carried out by Dilawar Singh Jaisinghvala of Khalistan Liberation Force. Standby bomber Balwant Singh Rajoana was also convicted for the killing and later sentenced to death. However, various Sikh groups protested against the sentence leading to the government staying his execution in 2012.