Bhullar denied relief: SAD blames Kejriwal and Mann govts; AAP says 6 of 7 board members BJP nominees

Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people and injuring 31 others in a blast outside the Youth Congress headquarters in Delhi. He was arrested after deportation from Germany.

In Tihar jail since 1995, Bhullar was awarded death penalty by a designated TADA court in August 2001 but his capital punishment was commuted to life sentence in 2014. Meanwhile, after being diagnosed with depression, he was shifted to a hospital in Delhi in 2012. He was shifted to an Amritsar hospital in 2015 based on the family’s plea and transferred to the Amritsar Central Jail. Since 2016, the Punjab government has allowed him to come out on parole. Bhullar has undergone an actual sentence of more than 25 years and availed parole for more than three years.

As per the the recommendations of the SRB, which met on December 21, 2023 — and which were uploaded on Delhi’s prison department Monday — 46 cases were considered for permanent release. It allowed the release of 16 prisoners while rejecting the applications of 33 others, including that of Bhullar.

Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal accused the AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab of conspiring to reject Bhullar’s plea.

“Shocking heinous crime against humanity by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his puppet (Punjab Chief Minister) Bhagwant Mann. By teaming up to reject the premature release plea of Prof Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar, they have both sprinkled salt on the wounds of the Sikh Sangat,” Badal said on X.

Badal condemned the manner in which “the human rights of Prof Bhullar are being violated by keeping him in incarceration for around 29 years despite his precarious health condition”. He also appealed to the Panth “to unite and formulate a joint strategy to secure justice in the case”.

Party leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia too blamed the Delhi government and demanded that the reasons for rejecting it be made public. “The Punjabis have a right to know why the plea had been kept pending for the last five years and why it had been rejected now This amounts to violating the human rights of Bhullar,” Majithia said.

Punjab AAP’s chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang, meanwhile, lashed out at the SAD leaders for telling “lies” and “an attempt to create unrest in Punjab” as “Badals want to grab power at any cost.”

He said the SRB comprised 7 members, including Delhi jails minister Kailash Gehlot, while six belong to the BJP, a former ally of the SAD. Referring to the minutes of the board meeting, Kang claimed that it was only the Delhi minister who supported Bhullar’s release. All other six members voted against Bhullar’s premature release, he said and pointed out that it was rejected with the majority of 6:1 “influenced by members reporting to Lieutenant General of Delhi”.

“Setting the record straight, the lone voice of Gehlot ardently advocated for Bhullar’s early release, citing grave physical and mental deterioration,” said Kang.

The AAP leader said that Gehlot  cited the no objection certificate issued by police in Amritsar, which is Bhullar’s home district “but dissenting board members raised concerns that his release may jeopardise the nation’s sovereignty.”

Bhullar’s counsel Jaspal Singh Manjhpur said that despite being the chairman of the SRB, Gehlot could not get the decision in favour of the Sikh prisoner’s release. “He should have resigned as the chairman. Also, all others in the board were not BJP nominees. There was a nominee of the Sessions Judge, another of Social Welfare Department of Delhi government. There was DIG (Jails). They can say the Joint Commissioner of Police was from Centre. But they cannot exonerate themselves from this completely,” Manjhpur said.

Kang, meanwhile, said the people of Punjab will never buy “lies” of Majithia. “They know the SAD’s reality too well now. Everyone knows that Akali Dal has never done anything for the ‘panth’, Sikhs and Punjab, they always do things for their personal interests. So, the SAD’s attempt to gain sympathy here will fail miserably,” Kang said.

The Centre had in September 2019 recommended special remission to eight Sikh prisoners, including Bhullar, to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Bhullar’s application for release was rejected twice in 2018, once in 2019, thrice in 2020, and deferred once in 2022.