Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and Sikh Cabinet Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa were also asked to intervene.
AMRITSAR: State spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Prof. Sarchand Singh Khiala has demanded from Delhi Chief Minister Smt. Rekha Gupta to release Sikh prisoner Prof. Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar before Khalsa Sajna Diwas, Baisakhi.
He said that Professor Bhullar was earlier imprisoned in Delhi's Tihar Jail and now he is in Amritsar Central Jail for the last 13 years and is undergoing treatment due to poor health.
He has spent 29 years in jail so far. There is no negative remark in Bhullar’s jail record. Therefore, Professor Bhullar is now entitled to early release.
In a letter sent to the Chief Minister, besides the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena and Sikh Cabinet Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa seeking their intervention,
Prof. Sarchand Singh said that the previous Arvind Kejriwal government could not take credit for the release of Prof. Bhullar. Now the people of Delhi, which has a large population of Punjabis and Sikhs, have reposed faith in the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi and have given it victory.
He has expressed hope that the present Delhi government, taking a decision on political will and humanitarian grounds, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will implement the notification issued by the Central Government in 2019 and consider every aspect sympathetically and take other necessary steps besides convening a ‘Sentence Review Board’ meeting for the immediate release of Prof. Bhullar.
Prof. Sarchand Singh said that the issue of release of Sikh prisoners (Bandi Singhs) has been a burning and discussed topic not only in Punjab and the Sikh community but also in the politics of the country for some time. The issue of Sikh prisoners is a complicated legal matter, at the same time it is also emotional for the Sikh community. Bandi Singhs or Sikh political prisoners are those Sikh prisoners who are in jails for various crimes under the influence of the Sikh struggle/separatist movement related to the 80s. These are Sikh youth from ordinary homes, who were victims of political discrimination of the Congress governments during that period and the unfortunate conditions created by them and were forced to follow the path of violence. The Sikh prisoners under consideration are residents of our country. The release of prisoners serving life imprisonment is not possible without the intervention of the state. The decision to release Sikh prisoners depends on political will.
Therefore, keeping in mind the demand of the Sikh community, the Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, issued a notification on the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak Ji in November 2019.
The Government, exercising the powers vested in the President and the Governor of the State respectively under Article 72 and Article 161 of the Constitution of India, has decided to commute the death sentence of one Sikh prisoner to life imprisonment and release 8 Sikh prisoners.
Arun Sobti, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, in his letter dated 11th October 2019 (PA/ASH 2290/0, dated 11/x/19, a copy of which was also sent to Joint Secretary (CS), Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi), clearly mentioned 9 Sikh prisoners. Out of these, 6 prisoners have been released so far. Among the two prisoners who have not been released yet is Professor Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, son of Balwant Singh, resident of Dayalpura Slums, Police Station Dayalpura, District Bathinda, Punjab, who was found guilty in the blast outside the Congress office in Delhi and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special TADA Court.
The release of Professor Bhullar falls under the administrative jurisdiction of Delhi. Last time, it was the Aam Aadmi Party government led by Shri Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, which had obstructed the release of Professor Bhullar. Bhullar’s case He was placed before the Delhi government's seven-member 'Sentence Review Board' (SRB) at least seven times to send his premature release to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi for approval. But no meaningful results were achieved.