Who is Devinder Pal Bhullar, in jail for terror since 1995?

Delhi Lieutenant-Governor V K Saxena on Monday (May 6) recommended a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe against jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly receiving political funding from the banned pro-Khalistani outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). Sources in LG House told The Indian Express that the recommendation was made based on allegations that Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party received $16 million from SFJ for “facilitating the release of Devinder Pal Bhullar and espousing pro-Khalistani sentiments”.

Here is a timeline of the Bhullar case.

Convicted by TADA court for 1993 Delhi bomb blast

On September 11, 1993 a car bomb went off outside the offices of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Raisina Road, New Delhi, killing nine people and injuring 25. The prime target of the bombing was deemed to be then IYC president M S Bitta, a vocal critic of Khalistani separatists, who survived the attack with some injuries.

After an investigation, authorities named Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, an engineering professor from Ludhiana, to be behind the blast. Bhullar was convicted by a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court and sentenced to death on August 25, 2001 based primarily on his confession in police custody. All the other accused in the case were acquitted.

Multiple petitions rejected, death sentence finally commuted in 2014

In March 2002, the Delhi High Court upheld Bhullar’s death sentence, which he then unsuccessfully appealed against in the Supreme Court. The apex court also rejected Bhullar’s curative petition — an individual’s final recourse before the Court — in 2003.

Following this, Bhullar filed a mercy petition before the President the same year. This was not responded to till May 2011, when then President Pratibha Patil rejected it.

Also Read | A history of the Khalistan movement in Canada, going back more than 40 years

Bhullar’s family then moved the Supreme Court seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment, on grounds of the delay in rejecting his mercy plea.

The top court dismissed this plea in 2013, but after review, on March 21, 2014, commuted Bhullar’s death sentence to life imprisonment on the aforementioned grounds.

From being a political untouchable to gaining widespread support

In August 2009, Bhullar’s lawyer filed an application with the governments of Delhi and Punjab, requesting that Bhullar be shifted from Delhi’s Tihar Jail to his home state, due to his depression, hypertension, and arthritis.

The Punjab government of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP refused to accommodate this request. It submitted in an affidavit to the Supreme Court that Bhullar was a “hardened and experienced criminal with well-organised international support, and a terrorist”.

By 2013, however, things had changed, as a campaign to commute Bhullar’s death sentence, run by Bhullar’s family and various Sikh bodies, gained steam. That year, then Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for commutation of Bhullar’s sentence.

In January 2014, the AAP government in Delhi too demanded clemency for Bhullar, saying that he was “suffering from mental illness”. The AAP and SAD-BJP governments worked together to move Bhullar from Tihar to Amritsar’s Central Jail in 2015.

After 23 years behind bars, Bhullar was given his first parole in April 2016, and he has been frequently out on parole since then.

But Bhullar’s permanent release not secured

In October 2019, on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the Centre issued a communique for the release of eight Sikh political prisoners — including Bhullar — across the country.

Nonetheless, the Sentence Review Board (SRB) of the Delhi government has since rejected Bhullar’s permanent release requests seven straight times, most recently in January this year.

Also Read | What is the Delhi excise policy case, and what is the Delhi CM accused of?

While many have blamed AAP for not doing enough to secure Bhullar’s release, M S Kang, AAP spokesperson and the party’s candidate from Anandpur Sahib, said in January that AAP’s “lone voice” in the SRB “ardently advocated for Bhullar’s early release citing grave physical and mental deterioration”, but the SRB, “influenced by members reporting to the LG”, overturned the plea.

Jaspal Singh Manjhpur, Bhullar’s lawyer, has requested all parties to “stop playing politics in the name of Bhullar” and facilitate his permanent release “for the sake of human rights”.

“We were never in touch with SFJ. We are not aware of anyone giving or taking money in relation to Bhullar. If anyone did so, it could be for their own personal interests. The release of Sikh prisoners was never an issue for SFJ,” he said.

On Gurpurab last year, BJP national spokesperson R P Singh met the LG and sought Bhullar’s release. “We urged him to convene a meeting of the SRB to compassionately review the case of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who has served 28 years in jail and has been receiving treatment for schizophrenia for the past 12 years,” he wrote on X.

For the latest news from across India, Political updates, Explainers, Sports News, Opinion, Entertainment Updates and more Top News, visit Indian Express. Subscribe to our award-winning Newsletter Download our App here Android & iOS