A court here on Tuesday convicted militant outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief Jagtar Singh Hawara and BKI India chief Paramjit Singh Bheora but acquitted 14 other accused in the sensational Burail jailbreak case of 2004.
The trial court said Hawara and Bheora had already undergone their sentence.
Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Anubhav Sharma in his order concluded “the prosecution has miserably failed to prove a big conspiracy involving all the accused and the conspiracies amongst them. “Especially with regard to accused jail officials, it can be observed that they did not have an independent will much less culpable will which can be attributed an intention for the purpose of section 217 (public servant disobeying law to save a person from punishment) and 222 (intentional omission by public servant to apprehend a person under sentence) of IPC,” Mr. Sharma said.
Hawara, Bheora, Tara and a murder convict Devi Singh had escaped from Chandigarh’s high-security Burail Jail in January 2004 by digging a nearly 100-feet long tunnel.
No defence
The CJM said: “With regard to escapee accused facing trial Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, nothing substantial was argued, rather they could have no defence. The very fact that they escaped and were re-arrested is sufficient to prove their guilt with regard to offence under Section 224 of IPC.
“However, with regard to conspiracy, certainly the escapees were in conspiracy with each other for digging the tunnel and breaking the jail. Apart from that, their conspiracy with any other accused is not proved,” the Court said in its 123-page order.
The CJM further said: “The only conclusion that can be drawn from the above discussion is that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against all the accused, except Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora.
Hence, all the accused except Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, stands acquitted from the charges levelled against them. Their bail bond surety bonds stand discharged.”
The order said that accused Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora are held guilty for commission of offence u/s 224 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.
“Since they have already undergone the sentence more than the prescribed for these offences, therefore, they are already released from custody in this case vide order dated 29-9-2010 passed by my learned predecessor. Their custody period is treated as their full sentence for the offences and shall be considered to have run concurrently with any other sentence so undergoing,” the Court said.
The CJM further directed that the copy of judgment be sent to these convicts Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, through Superintendent, Tihar Jail, Delhi, where they are lodged, for information.
Maximum punishment
Defence lawyer, A. S. Chahal, told reporters outside the court complex later that under Section 224 of IPC, “the maximum punishment that can be awarded is two years, which the two had already undergone“.
Several witnesses, including jail staff, had turned hostile and failed to support the prosecution’s version.
Jagtar Singh Hawara and Bheora were re-arrested within the next two years. Tara, a proclaimed offender (PO) in this case, was arrested from Thailand in January this year, while Devi Singh is absconding and has also been declared a PO. - PTI
14 other accused in the case acquitted
