CHANDIGARH: Four days after writing to Governor Gulab Chand Kataria for parole to Beant Singh assassination convict Jagtar Singh Hawara, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann met the Governor on Wednesday to press for it.Mann met Kataria on Wednesday to seek his intervention for a 10-day parole for Hawara on ‘humanitarian grounds’ so that he can meet his ailing mother. According to Mann, the Governor assured him that he would discuss the matter with the Union home secretary. “I am hopeful that Hawara will soon be able to sit beside his mother,” Mann said.It requires the Governor’s recommendation as the case is being heard in Delhi, Mann told mediapersons after the meeting, adding that after 31 years, an ailing mother has renewed hope of meeting her son.Former BJP Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu – former CM Beant Singh’s grandson – also met the Governor and thanked him for taking a compassionate and humane view of the matter.Bittu said, “As the family of the late Beant Singh ji, we second this humanitarian move. A mother should not be made to undergo a humanitarian punishment for the actions of her son. Whatever the legal consequences of his actions may be, an aged and unwell mother should not be deprived of the opportunity to meet her son when the law provides for temporary parole.”On Aug 8, Mann had written to Kataria with a plea for Hawara’s parole. “He is in jail for 31 years. His mother is old and suffering from age-related health issues and is currently semi-conscious. In view of her deteriorating health, I have requested the Governor to kindly consider granting 10 days’ parole to Jagtar Singh Hawara at the earliest so that he can meet his mother,” he said.“State govt is fully committed to maintaining law and order and protecting the hard-earned peace of Punjab. Hawara’s supporters and family members have also assured their support to state govt in this regard. No stone will be left unturned for this noble cause. I have assured the Governor of fulsome support and cooperation from state govt in pursuing this matter with the Centre,” Mann added.Majithia: Jail file carried‘non-recommendation’Former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Bikram Singh Majithia, however, alleged that a Punjab jail department file, dated Feb 19, 2026, carried a “non-recommendation” for Hawara’s parole.Hawara was convicted as a key conspirator in the Aug 1995 assassination of Beant Singh, the then-chief minister of Punjab, through a human bomb blast at the Chandigarh secretariat that killed 17 people. He was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2007, which was commuted to life imprisonment by Punjab and Haryana high court in 2010.
