Now, Nabha jailor faces habeas corpus petition for not releasing ex-DSP

PATIALA: The Nabha open jail jail superintendent now faces habeas corpus petition for not releasing former DSP Jaspal Singh, one of the convicts in Jaswant Singh Khalra kidnapping and murder case, on temporary parole. The petition was filed in the Punjab and Haryana high court on April 30, by the former DSP’s associate.
According to legal experts, the state government was to challenge the court order issued in December last year, in which it had been directed to re-initiate the process of Jaspal’s premature release from jail in the Khalra kidnapping and murder case.
Jaspal had moved his premature release case in October 2017, but it was rejected by the Centre in June 2018, saying, “It is not a fit case for premature release.” After the state government also turned down his case in August last year, Jaspal moved the high court in November and managed to get an order quashing state government’s decision against his premature release.
The court also directed the state government to initiate the process of his release after consultation (not consent) with the Union government. It said if the government failed to take a decision in this regard within four weeks, Jaspal should be released on temporary parole. In April this year, Jaspal filed his surety bonds and secured his temporary parole, but was detained in another case of custodial death by the Nabha jail superintendent.
Following this, Jaspal’s associate filed a habeas corpus in HC, saying he (Jaspal) was kept in illegal custody by the Nabha jailer.
Jaspal’s counsel contended before the court, that he (Jaspal) was convicted in the Khalra murder case and faced life imprisonment and was also convicted in another custodial death case in which he was awarded five years in jail. He said both the terms were to run concurrently and that Jaspal had completed the term for custodial death while being granted temporary parole by HC in the Khalra murder case.
Nabha open jail superintendent Sucha Singh said the matter was in the notice of senior officials of the jails department. “I have put all the facts before my seniors and they had taken note of the same,” he said.
Meanwhile, legal expert Sukhjinder Singh said since the case had been decided by the CBI court and later upheld by the Supreme Court, the decision to release Jaspal could not have been taken without the consent of the Union home department. He said even if the HC had granted him temporary parole and asked the government to re-initiate the case of his premature release, the state government could have filed a review petition in the court.