Beant assassination convict Lakha granted regular bail

A local court on Tuesday granted regular bail to Patiala resident Lakhwinder Singh Lakha, who was serving life imprisonment since 1995 in the Beant Singh assassination case.

Chandigarh

The court of chief judicial magistrate Aman Inder Singh Sandhu granted the bail on two sureties of ₹2 lakh each. (Representational Photo)

A local court on Tuesday granted regular bail to Patiala resident Lakhwinder Singh Lakha, who was serving life imprisonment since 1995 in the Beant Singh assassination case.

The court of chief judicial magistrate Aman Inder Singh Sandhu granted the bail on two sureties of ₹2 lakh each.

The order was passed on Tuesday evening following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana high court that directs the release of all prisoners on regular bail who have completed their life sentence but decision regarding their permanent release from jails is pending, said an official familiar with the matter.

In September 2022, the Supreme Court had opined that all persons who have completed 10 years of sentence, and whose appeals were not to be heard in the near future, should be released on bail, unless there are other reasons to deny them bail.

The bail application was moved by Lakha’s sister, following which the home secretary and jail superintendent recorded their statements. Lakha was released on bail from Model Jail, Burail, Chandigarh.

Lakha was part of the conspiracy of the assassination that was executed by suicide bomber Dilawar Singh. Lakha was a driver in the Punjab Police and was posted at the civil secretariat, Chandigarh, when the assassination took place on August 31, 1995. Under the plan of eliminating Beant Singh, he was assigned to do a recce of the civil secretariat.