The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended the parole granted to Captain Bhagmal, convicted and sentenced to life term in a 1984 anti Sikh riots case, by three months, saying he was over 90 years old. Bhagmal’s parole, last extended on March 20, was to expire on Thursday.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait said, “Keeping in view the fact that age of petitioner (Bhagmal) is more than 90 years, I hereby extend the parole of the petitioner for a further period of three months on the same terms and conditions as imposed vide order dated March 20, 2020.”
The high court said that Bhagmal will have to surrender after expiry of the three month parole. He was convicted and awarded life term for the murder of five members of a family in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar area on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra opposed the plea for extension saying that the convict was on parole since September 19 last year and it was already extended once on March 20, 2020 for two months.
Captain Bhagmal had sought extension of parole on the ground that he is over 90 years old and that he is vulnerable to the coronavirus infection due to his poor medical condition.