Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that a resolution asking for clemency for Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar would be introduced in the coming session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha only if there was a possibility of geting it passed.
Badal, who was here to inaugurate a hospital, told mediapersons that the BJP and Congress had already started opposing the proposal and under such circumstances, it would not be possible to get it passed in the House.
“We (SAD) wanted to bring a resolution to convert Bhullar’s death sentence to life imprisonment for his benefit, but the Congress and other political parties are opposed to it,” said Badal.
“Now if we bring in the resolution with most political parties opposed to it, it will be defeated and the step will harm Bhullar.”
When asked whether the Punjab Government would try to convince the BJP and the Congress on the issue, Badal said that his party would not like to talk to anyone on this issue. He, however, clarified that there were no differences with alliance partner BJP as such and every political party had its own principles.
The BJP has already made it clear that it would not support the clemency plea for Bhullar, even if it is brought up by its alliance partner in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
On the other hand, Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh has stated that Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar’s death penalty should be commuted to life imprisonment, but has rejected the proposal as politically motivated.
Amarinder has maintained that his stand was clear and categoric that Bhullar must not be hanged as he has been in jail for 17 years, out of which he was on death penalty for eight years while a life term is for 14 years only. He cannot be punished twice – life term and death sentence – for the same crime.
Meanwhile, the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) on Thursday demanded that the Punjab Government immediately seek the transfer of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, to a prison in Punjab.
“The present Punjab government has refused to accept the transfer of Prof Bhullar to a prison in Punjab stating that he is a dangerous terrorist,” said AISSF president Karnail Singh Peermohammad.
Peermohammad accused the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal of raking up the issue of clemency for Bhullar and save him from the gallows as Assembly elections in Punjab were round the corner.
Bhullar was sentenced to death for masterminding a 1993 car bomb attack in front of the Youth Congress office in New Delhi that killed 12 people.
News Source: Bhullar clemency resolution unlikely in Punjab Assembly
