HC sets aside order barring Beant Singh killer’s early release

Gurmeet was held guilty of teh offences on July 31, 2007, by Additional Sessions Judge, Chandigarh, and imprisoned for life.

Counsel for Gurmeet, Advocate Vijay K Jindal, submitted that the petitioner as on date had undergone an actual sentence of more than 25 years. (express Photo)

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The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday set aside the order of the Chandigarh administration, which had junked a plea for the pre-mature release of Gurmeet Singh, one of the convicts in the Beant Singh assassination case.

“The impugned order, as such, is set aside and the authorities concerned are directed to consider the matter afresh, after soliciting opinion of the sessions judge concerned, expeditiously preferably within a period of 3 months from today,” said the HC.

The petitionerin the case, Gurmeet Singh, was tried for offences under sections 302, 307 read with Section 120-B IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act, in a FIR registered August 31, 1995, Police Station North (now Sector 3), Chandigarh.

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Gurmeet was held guilty of teh offences on July 31, 2007, by Additional Sessions Judge, Chandigarh, and imprisoned for life.

Counsel for Gurmeet, Advocate Vijay K Jindal, submitted that the petitioner as on date had undergone an actual sentence of more than 25 years and had also earned remissions to the tune of about 6 years and 9 months and as such was entitled to be released prematurely in terms of the provisions of Punjab Jail Manual, 1996.

The Bench of Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill, after hearing the matter, said, “The impugned order when examined in light of the ratio rendered in Ram Chander’s case (Supra), certainly cannot sustain being a non-speaking order, as the opinion as referred therein does not disclose any reason.”

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