Tara acquitted in 16-yr-old UAPA, Arms Act case for want of evidence

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Rajeev K Beri has acquitted Jagtar Singh Tara in a 16-year-old case lodged against him at Bhogpur near here under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act.

Since Tara is facing life imprisonment till death in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, he will continue to remain in jail. He is lodged at Burail Jail in Chandigarh.

On Tuesday, the Jalandhar court termed Tara’s case a “case of no evidence”. The 17-page judgment states that the prosecution even failed to establish that he was a member of the Babbar Khalsa International.

“It was not even proven that this outfit was a terrorist organisation or that the accused was its member. It was also not proven that Tara had conspired with the other accused to commit any terrorist act or that he had collected funds for the purpose. No incriminating material was recovered from the accused despite his arrest,” reads the order. The court stated that the prosecution failed to prove the charges and hence acquitted him for lack of evidence.

The court found that his disclosure statement was recorded by DSP Tarsem Singh, who admitted to having made no recovery on the basis of the statement. “This statement, therefore, remains a mere piece of paper and has led to no palpable evidence. No fund trail was traced by the investigating agency. There is no evidence to show that the accused had conspired to commit any terrorist act,” the court stated.

As per the prosecution version given on September 28, 2009, DSP (Counter Intelligence) Rajinder Singh was in his office when he received secret information that Wadhawa Singh Babbar, alias Chacha, and Jagtar Singh, alias Tara, members of the Babbar Khalsa International, Pakistan, were hand in glove with Pakistan’s ISI. The informer also told him that they were receiving financial help from foreign-based terrorists to disturb peace in Punjab by committing terrorist acts.