Jagtar Tara gets life term in Beant assassination case

Chandigarh: A special court here on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Jagtar Singh Tara in connection with the assassination of Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. The court of Additional District and Session Judge J S Sidhu pronounced the sentence in the high security Burail jail here where Tara is currently lodged, Tara's counsel Simranjit Singh said. A fine of Rs 35,000 was also imposed on Tara by the court, he said.

The lawyer said his client would not challenge the order in the higher court. He said the CBI counsel had pressed for capital punishment for Tara. Tara (43) had been booked under various sections of IPC, including section 302 (murder), section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Explosive Act.

He had confessed to his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, in a confession letter which he had submitted to the court in January this year. On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.