Punjab's ex-CM Parkash Singh Badal demands release of 1993 bomb blast convict Bhullar
India Today
Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday demanded the release of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar from jail.
Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday sought the immediate release of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Davinderpal Singh Bhullar in the “larger interest of consolidating peace and communal harmony” in Punjab.
Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people and injuring of 31 in the blast. Among those who survived the attack are former Youth Congress chief M S Bitta.
In a statement here, Badal urged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal not to allow a “communal bias or political or electoral opportunism to dictate his decision and refusal to grant immediate clearance for Bhullar’s release”.
“Bhullar must be released without even a moment’s delay as he had already served his full term in jail,” Badal said.
“Punjab had suffered enough because of these petty communal and polarising political conspiracies by the Congress rulers in the past. Arvind Kejriwal must resist the temptation to walk the same path for the same petty reasons,” the Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch said.
Bhullar was awarded the death penalty by a designated TADA court in August 2001 but his capital punishment was commuted to life sentence by the Supreme Court in 2014.
The Centre in September 2019 had recommended special remission to eight Sikh prisoners, including Bhullar, to mark the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
