AAP denies any proposal for premature release of convicts in Jaswant Singh Khalra murder case

4 min readChandigarhJul 10, 2026 12:25 AM IST

The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday rejected the allegations that its government in Punjab had approved any proposal for the premature release of convicts in the activist Jaswant Singh Khalra murder case, claiming that no such file had been signed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann or is pending approval with the Governor.

Addressing a press conference, Punjab AAP’s media in-charge Baltej Pannu termed reports claiming that the state government had recommended the premature release of former DSP Jaspal Singh, a convict in the murder case, as “false propaganda” aimed at misleading the public.

“The case was investigated by the CBI, and under Section 477 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), corresponding to Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), any proposal for premature release in a CBI-investigated case falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Punjab government has neither received nor processed any proposal from the MHA regarding the premature release of the convicts,” said Pannu.

The AAP leader said that Jaspal Singh had first moved MHA for premature release in 2017. The MHA rejected the application in 2018 and the Governor also turned it down later that year.

A fresh proposal was again sent to the MHA in 2019 following a recommendation from the DGP’s office, he said, adding that similar proposals by other co-convicts Satnam Singh, Surinder Singh and Jasbir Singh were rejected by the MHA in March 2023. He said the cases were again referred to the MHA in October 2023 and no concurrence has been received so far.

“As no proposal has come back from the MHA, no file has been placed before the Punjab government or the Governor. Therefore, the claim that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann signed a file for the premature release of the convicts is entirely false,” Pannu said, and alleged that Opposition parties, particularly the Shiromani Akali Dal, were spreading misinformation by claiming that the Punjab government had signed a remission file and sent it to the Governor.

He also referred to a recent statement by Khalra’s widow, Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra, and alleging that it exposed the Akali Dal’s failure to fulfil its promise of securing justice for the slain human rights activist after coming to power in 1997.

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According to Pannu, Paramjit Kaur had said that the Akali Dal had promised to constitute a Truth Commission and bring those responsible to justice but instead rewarded many of the officers accused in the case with higher positions. He alleged that after the Akali Dal formed the government, no meaningful support was extended to Khalra’s family despite his association with the party’s human rights wing.

Referring to the film ‘Satluj’ based on Khalra’s lidfe, Pannu alleged that it was removed from an OTT platform on directions from the BJP-led central government. He also accused the central government of attempting to suppress facts relating to Punjab’s troubled past.

According to a fact sheet released by AAP, eight persons were convicted in the Khalra murder case, of whom four have died. The surviving convicts are Jaspal Singh, Satnam Singh, Surinder Singh and Jasbir Singh. Three of them are currently out on bail while Surinder Singh remains in custody in another case.