Ludhiana: A local court in Ludhiana convicted Sikh Political Prisoner Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara in an arms recovery case dating back to 1995. The Court of Varinder Kumar, Junior Magistrate First Class (JMIC) convicted Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara in case FIR No. 139 dated 30 December 1995 registered at police station Kotwali Ludhiana.
This case was related to recovery of an AK56 rifle and fifty cartridges.
After convicting Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara in this case, the JMIC transferred the matter before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) and fixed April 13 as next court date for announcing quantum of sentence. As Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara is convicted under section 25 of the Arms Act, the court may award him 3 years imprisonment, which he has already undergone.
Talking to the Sikh SIyasat News (SSN) defence counsel Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur said that the defence would file appeal in the Sessions court against Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara’s conviction.
The court ignored the defence arguments, claimed Advo. Jaspal Singh Manjhpur while maintaining that there was no confession of Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara under the Arms Act in this case. Moreover, he continued, neither IO nor the incharge of the Malkhana where the allegedly recovered weapon was held deposed against Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara in this case. He said that the prosecution failed to prove in the court that the allegedly recovered weapon was in working condition and there were contradictory statements by prosecution witnesses regarding sealing of the parcel related to the alleged recovery.
“In this situation, it was a case requiring acquittal but the court seem to have convicted Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara under ‘political considerations’,” he alleged.