Another convict gets interim bail in Beant Singh assassination case

The Chandigarh chief judicial magistrate granted interim bail to Shamsher Singh, one of the convicts in the assassination case of former chief minister Beant Singh.

The court of CJM Aman Inder Singh granted him bail on furnishing two sureties of ₹2 lakh each.

Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. The special CBI court had awarded death penalty to Balwant Singh Rajoana in July 2007. It also awarded death penalty to Jagtar Singh Hawara, life imprisonment to Gurmeet Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Shamsher Singh.

Advocate Amar Singh Chahal said a petition of premature release of Shamsher Singh has been pending with the UT administration for over three months.

“The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued clear directions that in such cases, where decisions are pending, the CJM can release the convicts of life imprisonments on bail,” he said. The court on Wednesday awarded him interim bail till the UT administration announces its decision on his petition, he said.

Earlier, on May 10 and June 2, the CJM released Lakhwinder Singh and Gurmeet Singh, life convicts in Beant Singh assassination case, on interim bail.

In mid-June, Shamsher Singh moved the local court for his release on bail as the UT administration had not decided on his premature release petition.

Patiala native Shamsher Singh has been behind the bars for over 27 years since his arrest in 1995. Shamsher Singh along with Lakhwinder Singh and Gurmeet Singh was awarded life imprisonment by a special court of CBI in Chandigarh in August 2007. But the two are now on interim bail.