Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has today written to Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria seeking the grant of 10-days' parole to Jagtar Singh Hawara, a convict in former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case. The parole is to take care of Hawara's 81-years old ailing mother.
In his letter CM Mann urged Governor Kataria that it has been brought to my notice that owing to her old age, the mother of Jagtar Singh Hawara is facing health issues and her condition is deteriorating. Hawara has also filed CRWP No. 3868/2026 before the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking directions for his release on parole.
Chief Minster Mann said in his letter to the Governor that the High Court has also directed that his parole application be considered. ``On humanitarian ground I further request that as the health of Hawara's mother is deteriorating, he should be given ten days parole at the earliest,’’ the letter said.
The letter has brought renewed attention to the possibility of Hawara being granted parole. Supporting CM Mann, AAP Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha from Anandpur Sahib, Malvinder Singh Kang, wrote on X,`` I wholeheartedly support the appeal made by the Hon’ble Chief Minister Sardar @BhagwantMann Ji to grant 10 days' parole to Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara, so that he can stay with his ailing and elderly mother during this extremely difficult phase of her life. This is not a matter of politics. This is a matter of humanity, compassion, and respect—and above all, it is a question of upholding the sanctity of the sacred bond between a mother and her son.’’
``I have personally met Bhai Hawara’s mother and seen with my own eyes the silent pain of an elderly mother who has endured years of separation from her son. Whatever the circumstances may be, the suffering of an elderly mother deserves to be considered with compassion and human sensitivity. I am fully confident that the Hon’ble Governor of Punjab will consider this appeal with a sense of humanity and sensitivity, keeping in mind the human aspect connected to it,’’ he wrote.
Kang added in his X post; ``... Justice should be guided by the sentiment of humanity, and where the matter concerns compassion, it is humanity that must prevail. So that Hawara can be with his ailing and elderly mother at a time when her health is failing. This is not a question of politics; it is a question of compassion, dignity and the sanctity of a mother-son bond.’’
On July 6, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Superintendent of Central Jail No. 15 in Delhi’s Mandoli to decide the parole application of Hawara in a time-bound manner after seeking comments and recommendations of the Chandigarh Administration. While disposing of Hawara’s criminal writ petition seeking four weeks’ parole to attend to his mother's health was deteriorating on account of advanced age-related physical and cognitive disorders.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh had then appeared for Hawara and had submitted that his client had undergone 29 years of actual custody and had never been granted any concession of parole or remission and that no complaint of misconduct or any other prison offence has ever been reported against him during this period.
It was contended that a total of 36 cases had been registered against Hawara of which he was convicted in seven and has undergone the entire sentence in six cases and is undergoing his sentence in the instant case. In the remaining 29 cases, Hawara has either been acquitted or discharged or the petitions stand disposed of in his favour, his lawyer said.