Release Bhullar by January 26 or will protest against AAP candidates: Sikh bodies to Kejriwal
🔴 The Sikh bodies, led by Bhullar's wife and Sarwan Singh Agwan who is the brother of former PM Indira Gandhi’s assassin Satwant Singh, alleged that Delhi govt was not clearing the file to release the convict, who they claim is suffering from a mental illness.
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (File)A group of Sikh bodies Thursday issued an ultimatum to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to release Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, the convict in 1993 Delhi bomb blast case, by January 26 or face protest against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in Punjab where polls are scheduled on February 20.
To mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the Centre had on September 27, 2019 recommended special remission to eight Sikh prisoners. Bhullar, who had been awarded death in the 1993 bomb blast case by a trial court in Delhi in 2001 — Supreme Court upheld the verdict in 2002 — , was one among them. However, it has being alleged that the AAP-led Delhi government’s Sentence Review Board (SRB) had rejected the plea for his early release in December 2020.
The 1993 blast had killed nine people and injured 25, including the then Youth Congress president, MS Bitta. The Supreme Court in 2014, while reviewing an earlier order, had commuted Bhullar’s death sentence to life on the grounds of inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition.
On Thursday, the Sikh bodies, led by Bhullar’s wife Navneet Kaur and Sarwan Singh Agwan who is the brother of former PM Indira Gandhi’s assassin Satwant Singh, alleged that Delhi government was not clearing the file to release the convict, who they claim is suffering from a mental illness.
The AAP’s CM face for Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, had recently said Bhullar’s file was with LG of Delhi.
“There is no legal hurdle in the way of permanent release of Bhullar, but Kejriwal is adopting a negative approach. If he ignores the sentiments of the Sikhs, he will face the consequences,” they said at press conference here.
Later, they issued a statement: “If Delhi government doesn’t take decision to free Bhullar by January 26, then we will protest against AAP candidates across Punjab”.
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