Recently, the Mohali District Court acquitted Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara in a case registered under the Explosives and Arms Act in 2005 at Sadar police station, Kharar. Additional District and Sessions Judge Tej Pratap Singh Randhawa pronounced the verdict through video conferencing, in which Bhai Hawara appeared virtually from Mandoli Jail, Delhi. The police had accused five people, including Bhai Hawara, of preparing an incident by collecting arms and ammunition in 2005. The verdict has already been pronounced on the remaining four accused in this case, in which Swaran Singh was sentenced to 5 years, Gurdeep Singh and Paramjit Singh to 3 years each, while Parminder Singh was earlier acquitted.
Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur said that this was Hawara’s last pending case and now there is no other case against him in the court. Bhai Hawara, who has been in jail for 29 years, is now legally eligible for parole. However, full release is not possible due to the life sentence in the murder case of former Chief Minister Beant Singh, but an application can be made for parole or remission of sentence.
Bhai Hawara has filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding transfer from Mandoli Jail to a Punjab jail, as he has no pending cases in Delhi or other states.
The National Justice Morcha has been staging a protest at YPS Chowk in Mohali for the past two years demanding Bhai Hawara’s release and transfer to a Punjab jail. It now depends on the Government of India whether it grants parole to Bhai Hawara or not.
