Twenty-two years after the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Beant Singh, the guilty in the case, Jagtar Singh Tara, was sentenced to life by the a local court in Chandigarh on Saturday.

“The Court has passed the order for life imprisonment for him,” Tara’s lawyer said.

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Confessing his crime in January, Tara had submitted a letter to the court stating, “I have no regret for killing Beant Singh.” He had also said that Shaheed Udham Singh, who assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, was his inspiration to kill Beant. He also admitted that he purchased the car used for the assassination of Beant and they all waited for the best opportunity to kill the former CM.

As per the defence counsel, Tara had stated in the letter that he took inspiration from Sikh history and tradition, which taught him not to tolerate injustice, and claimed that the circumstances at that time were intolerable when innocent Sikh youths were being brutally murdered.

Earlier, Balwant Singh Rajoana was also convicted in the assassination case. The Chandigarh police had arrested nine persons for the assassination of Beant Singh, while six others booked in the case were later declared proclaimed offenders by the court.

Beant Singh was killed in a bomb blast outside Punjab and Haryana secretariat on 31 August 1995. The explosion had killed 17 others, including Punjab Police constable Dilawar Singh, who acted as a human bomb. Tara was charged under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act.

The trial began in the district court in 1995. However, in 2004, Jagtar Singh Tara, Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjeet Singh Bheora escaped from the high-security Burail Model Jail in Chandigarh after digging a tunnel. In 2006, Jagtar Singh Hawara was arrested by the Punjab Police from Patiala.

Among those convicted, Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh Rajoana were sentenced to death. However, Hawara appealed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. Currently, he is lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi. Rajoana, who did not appeal against the death sentence, is currently in Patiala jail. Among the other convicts, Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh were sentenced to life imprisonment and Naseeb Singh was sentenced 10 years of imprisonment.