Ludhiana/Chandigarh: It should have been so, but it was not. Despite court orders Sikh political prisoner Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara was not produced in Moga court in a 2005 case that was acquitted yesterday.
But if one is to believe at least two of India’s top news agencies then “he was brought from Tihar Jail on Tuesday (Aug. 7) morning and produced before the court amid tight security”.
Actually Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara was shifted to Tihar Jail in Delhi to face a case there. During the pendency of that the police and jail administration used to produce him in Punjab courts to attend the court hearings here.
But after the trial of Delhi case concluded, he being kept confined in Tihar jail. The jail administration and the police take the plea of so-called ‘security reason’ for not producing Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara in any court. Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara’s counsel, however, maintains otherwise. According to Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara’s lawyer the “real reason” for not producing him before any court in Punjab is that the Indian state wants to keep him out of the Punjab, his home state.
“Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara’s detention in Tihar Jail is an out of the way arrangement by the state (Indian state). As per law he should be shifted to any jail in Punjab as he is not facing any case in Delhi but the state wants to keep him away from the Punjab due to political reasons”, he added.
On being asked about news reports by PTI and UNI news agencies and The Week that Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara was produced in Moga court on Tuesday (7 Aug. 2018) amidst tight security, Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur said that it did not happen.
“No, he was not produced in the court yesterday. I was there in the court. The case was discharged by Sessions Judge Tarsem Mangla who appreciated defence arguments that there was no legal basis being the case. Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara was presented before the court only though video conferencing from Tihar Jail and he was not brought to the court physically”, he added.
He said that the court of Additional Session Judge Jagdeep Sood had issued production warrants directing the Tihar jail authorities to present Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara before the court. The court in its order dated May 30, 2018 had directed the police to present Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara before the court on July 12, 2018 but the jail authorities and the prosecution did not honour the court order and on July 12 the court was told that Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara can not be produced before the court due to “security reasons”.