Supreme Court Puts Off Hawara Transfer Plea to February 2027ਸੁਪਰੀਮ ਕੋਰਟ ਨੇ ਹਵਾਰਾ ਤਬਾਦਲਾ ਪਟੀਸ਼ਨ ਫਰਵਰੀ 2027 ਤੱਕ ਟਾਲੀ

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 3 November put off Jagtar Singh Hawara's plea to be transferred from Tihar Jail in Delhi to a prison in Punjab, after an Intelligence Bureau report warned that such a move could affect the coming Punjab Assembly elections. A bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice P B Varale said the report was, in its words, very damning, and agreed to take up the matter after the elections, in the week beginning 22 February 2027.

What did the Intelligence Bureau tell the court?

The court had asked for Intelligence Bureau inputs at its last hearing on 13 October, after the Punjab government raised law and order concerns. On Tuesday, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati placed the bureau's report before the bench and described Hawara as a high-risk prisoner. The report warned that a transfer to Punjab could have significant repercussions for law and order and could influence the political atmosphere ahead of Assembly elections due early next year.

Justice Sundresh said the court would normally have no difficulty with a request of this kind, at least on allowing a prisoner to meet an unwell family member. But he said the agency's assessment was serious, that the issues were alive in India and abroad, and that the court did not want its order to have a huge impact on the ongoing election process.

What is Hawara asking for?

Hawara, a native of Fatehgarh Sahib district, is serving a life sentence in the case of the assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was killed with 16 others in a bomb blast outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in August 1995. His plea seeks a transfer to a prison in Punjab, mainly so that he can meet his elderly mother, who is in her 90s and is stated to be in a serious condition.

Senior advocate S Muralidhar, appearing for Hawara, objected to the Home Ministry's position that Tihar is more secure than a Punjab prison for high-security prisoners, and asked that Hawara at least be allowed to meet his mother. He told the court that a parole application is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. When the bench pointed to the election concern, Muralidhar suggested the matter be taken up after three months, once the elections are over, and the court accepted that suggestion.

The background to the case

A trial court convicted Hawara in the Beant Singh case in 2007 and sentenced him to death. The Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted that sentence to life imprisonment in 2010. His plea notes that he escaped from Chandigarh's Burail Jail in January 2004 and was later re-arrested, and says his conduct in prison since then has been without blemish. The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed his transfer request.

Separately, the Punjab government has been seeking temporary parole for Hawara on humanitarian grounds so he can meet his ailing mother, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has approached the Governor over the issue. Tuesday's order means the transfer question will not be decided before the Assembly elections, whatever happens on the parole front.

When will the Hawara transfer plea be heard again?

The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing to the week beginning 22 February 2027, after the Punjab Assembly elections, following a suggestion from Hawara's own counsel.

Why did the court hold back on Tuesday?

The bench said an Intelligence Bureau report placed before it was very damning, warning of law and order risks and a possible impact on the coming elections if Hawara were moved to a Punjab prison now.

What sentence is Hawara serving?

He is serving life imprisonment in the Beant Singh assassination case. A death sentence given in 2007 was commuted to life by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2010.