Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and sought his intervention for granting parole to Jagtar Singh Hawara, a member of the banned terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa terrorist, who is serving a life sentence for the 1995 assassination of former Chief Minister Beant Singh.
Mr. Mann requested the Punjab Governor to consider granting 10 day-parole to Hawara on humanitarian grounds, saying that after 31 years, his ailing mother has a renewed hope of meeting her son. The Chief Minister said the matter requires the Governor’s recommendation as the case is being heard in Delhi, while assuring that the Punjab government will take full responsibility for ensuring that law and order is not affected if Hawara is granted parole.
“Jagtar Singh Hawara has been lodged in Jail for the last 31 years. His mother is old and suffering from age-related health issues and is currently semi-conscious. In view of her deteriorating health condition, I have requested the Governor to kindly consider granting 10 days’ parole to Jagtar Singh Hawara at the earliest so that he can meet his mother,” he said.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, last month had directed Mandoli prison authorities in Delhi, where Hawara is currently lodged, to seek recommendations from the Chandigarh Administration and decide his parole application within a stipulated time frame. In 2007, Hawara was sentenced to death, but in 2010 it was commuted by the High Court. Hawara is serving imprisonment for the rest of his life in connection with the August 31, 1995, blast at the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh, which killed Beant Singh and 16 others.
Interestingly, in March this year, the Punjab government had written to the Tihar Jail authorities recommending the rejection of the parole application of Hawara.
Published – August 13, 2026 06:00 am IST
