Revision plea seeking Tara’s 14-day custody dismissed

Aneesha Sareen

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 27

Holding that the revision petition filed by the police is “not maintainable”, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal today dismissed the UT police plea seeking 14-day custody of Beant Singh assassin Jagtar Singh Tara to interrogate him in the Burail jailbreak case.

Tara, who was arrested in Thailand 11 years after he made the sensational escape from Burail Jail in 2004, has again been sent to judicial custody. The Chandigarh Police had filed the revision petition against the order of the Duty Magistrate passed on February 17 wherein the court had declined the police plea for Tara’s custody. Disappointed, the police today said it would move the High Court against the dismissal.

While dismissing the petition today, the court stated that it could safely be concluded that the order declining police remand on February 17 was a purely interlocutory order against which a revision was not maintainable.

The police had sought Tara’s 14-day custody to interrogate him in the Burail jailbreak case, in which he was a proclaimed offender since 2004, and also to interrogate him on other anti -national activities in which he allegedly indulged in after escaping from Burail Jail.

The defence counsel had pleaded that the revision petition was not maintainable as the Additional Sessions Judge had in 2005 discharged all accused in the case from offences of waging war against the country and he had already been granted bail in the jailbreak case last week.

The court held that it could not overlook the order dated April 11, 2005, of the court of then ADJ Balbir Singh, affirmed by the High Court vide which it was stated that “even then, no prima facie case is made out for framing charge against the absentee accused, Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh under Section 121 of the IPC (waging war against the country). It does not appear that a prima -facie case is made out for framing charge with the allegations that the escapee accused made an attempt of waging war,” said the court while quoting the order in which the accused (even those who were escapees) were discharged from charges of waging war against the country in 2005.

“It is not disputed that an order granting bail to the respondent has been passed by the JMIC on February 17 this year itself. The order granting bail has not been challenged. Once the concession has been extended, the maintainability of the revision petition against the order declining police remand would come into question,” said the court.

“Jurisdiction in revision has to be exercised only when there is a glaring defect in the procedure or manifest error on point of law. Facts and circumstances of the present case do not warrant exercise of revisional jurisdiction. The revision petition is, therefore, dismissed,” said the court.

Tara, who was facing trial for assassinating former Chief Minister of Punjab Beant Singh, had escaped along with three others after digging a 109-foot-long tunnel inside the jail in January 2004. Two escapees Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjeet Singh Bheroa were rearrested, while Devi Singh, the third, is still at large.

The UT police had sought custodial interrogation as they wanted to question Tara about those who had assisted him during and post his escape from the jail. After remaining absconding for 11 years, Tara was arrested in Thailand in January this year and extradited to India on January 17.