CHANDIGARH: Amid the controversy surrounding Diljit Dosanjh's film Satluj, renewed attention has turned to former Punjab Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jaspal Singh, one of the convicts in the murder case of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.
The spotlight follows a routine address verification initiated by the authorities at Nabha Open Air Jail, who asked Hoshiarpur Police to verify the address recorded in Jaspal Singh's prison records.
Sources said the jail authorities requested Hoshiarpur Police to trace the former DSP's whereabouts, following which Assistant Sub-Inspector Surinder Pal Singh was assigned to verify his address. Jaspal Singh was released on bail in May 2023 after furnishing a personal bond and a surety of Rs 1 lakh while serving a life sentence.
A senior police official said the verification was a routine exercise as the address furnished by the former DSP falls within Hoshiarpur district.
Sources, however, said the address available with jail authorities is in Majhi village of Hoshiarpur, while his native village is Cheema Nagar in Jalandhar district.
The verification comes days after Satluj, based on Khalra's life and disappearance, was taken down from an OTT platform after being available for 48 hours. Jaspal Singh's character features prominently in the film, bringing renewed focus to one of Punjab's most high-profile human rights cases.
Sources said the Punjab government had sent a proposal to the Governor in September 2022 seeking Jaspal Singh's premature release, but no decision has been taken so far.
A senior jail official said that under a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment in a contempt case, if the Governor does not decide on such a proposal within three months, the prisoner is entitled to bail until a decision is taken. Based on that ruling, Patiala Chief Judicial Magistrate Navdeep Kaur Gill granted Jaspal Singh bail.
In 2021, Singh had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking premature release but withdrew the petition in August 2022, after which the court directed him to surrender by August 16 that year. Earlier, he had also been granted parole during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2019, Singh was granted parole in the Khalra case but remained in custody because he was serving a separate five-year sentence in another case registered at Tanda Police Station. He later filed a habeas corpus petition, arguing that the five-year sentence had already run concurrently with his life sentence, but withdrew the plea in September 2019.
Later that year, then Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore rejected his remission plea after objections were raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, resulting in the continuation of his life imprisonment.
The case dates back to the abduction and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra in 1995. Following a CBI investigation, Jaspal Singh and other police personnel were charged with abducting Khalra, illegally confining him, murdering him in police custody and destroying evidence.
In November 2005, a CBI court in Patiala convicted the accused. Jaspal Singh and ASI Amarjit Singh were sentenced to life imprisonment, while four other police personnel received seven-year jail terms. In 2007, the Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld Jaspal Singh's life sentence, acquitted Amarjit Singh and enhanced the sentences of the remaining four convicts to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's verdict in 2011.
Jaspal Singh has spent most of his imprisonment at the Nabha Open Air Jail.