New Delhi, February 10 The Sentence Review Board (SRB) of Delhi has again rejected the early release of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, a convict in the 1993 Delhi bomb blast, officials said on Tuesday.
The SRB, in its meeting held last December, however, recommended the early release of Hopeson Nignshen, a self-styled NSCN (M) "lieutenant," who was convicted in connection with the abduction and killing of three Manipur government officials in the state's Ukhrul district in February 2009, they said.
The SRB recommended Nignshen's early release, subject to the concurrence of the Central government, they said.
Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people and the injuring of 31 in the 1993 blast. Among those who survived the attack is former Youth Congress chief M S Bitta.
Bhullar was awarded the death penalty by a designated TADA court in August 2001, but his capital punishment was commuted to life sentence in 2014.
He was transferred from Delhi's Tihar Jail to Amritsar Central Jail in June 2015, due to health concerns.
In 2022, the SRB deferred Bhullar's early release case, despite his "poor health condition" and "vegetative state," officials said. Later, the SRB declined his early release in its meeting in 2024.
The Centre had in September 2019 recommended special remission to eight Sikh prisoners, including Bhullar, to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
However, some members of the SRB objected to his release, citing the fact that his actions as a terrorist had claimed innocent lives, and that sending him out at a time when voices in favour of Khalistan were trying to revive abroad as well as in Punjab, would further embolden them, sources said.
The SRB considered the cases of 51 convicts for early release. The Board rejected the release of 24 convicts, including Bhullar, according to an official document.
An order issued by the Delhi government's Home department last week stated that Delhi's Lt Governor has remitted the un-expired sentence of 26 life term convicts on the recommendation of the SRB.
The released convicts included a Nigerian national, Kenneth Chidi Onyeaghala. He was convicted with a life sentence in Delhi in 2022 for murder and robbery.
The order said that Onyeaghala would be deported to his native country immediately after his release.