—The Supreme Court has now allowed state governments to exercise the power of remission to release life convicts however with a condition that it does not apply to CBI or TADA related cases. The stay was imposed last year in relation to cases of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins. Although now many prisoners will be eligible for release, majority of political prisoners find no relief.
Vast majority of political prisoners arrested during the 1990s were tried under the TADA law. Although the law has lapsed, Supreme Court has still made it clear that those tried under it are not eligible for remission. TADA has been referred to as the “draconian law” that was used to detain persons without trials. A number of Sikh political prisoners were tried under TADA, including Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar whose case is an example of how this law was used to provide him an unfair trial.
Can the Government do anything to release Sikh political prisoners?
Yes, there has never been a question on the ability of the Punjab Government to release Sikh political prisoners under permanent or temporary parole. In fact, temporary parole is already being provide to a small subset of prisoners. Punjab Government could easily grant permanent parole to Lal Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Shamsher Singh and Gurdeep Singh and provide temporary paroles to Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, Gurdeep Singh Khera and Balbir Singh Bhootna.
In addition, even though the convicts of the 1987 Ludhiana Bank robbery case were tried under TADA, due to their ages, they should be given relief and allowed paroles. A number of these convicts are over the age of 70. Bapu Asa Singh, a 95 year old prisoner is already out on bail in the same case.
Furthermore, the cases of Dilbagh Singh, Sarwan Singh (Nabha), Baj Singh and Hardeep Singh (Amritsar) should be implored as these were under the jurisdiction of the Punjab Government. Punjab and Haryana High court had asked the government to “consider” these cases for release, however the decision is pending in Chief Minister’s office.
Furthermore, the Punjab Government can file application for individuals seeking pardon.
