The hijacked Air India flight had 111 passengers and six crew on board. When the plane landed in Lahore, the hijackers released some passengers. (Express photo: Ravi Kanojia/File)
Two of the hijackers of an Air India flight in 1981, Satnam Singh and Tejinderpal Singh, moved the Delhi High Court on Friday with a plea that the charge of waging war against India, framed against them by a trial court, be quashed. The plea came up for before Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, who issued notice to Delhi Police and asked them to file a status report by July on the plea.
The two — along with Gajinder Singh, Jasbir Singh and Karan Singh — had hijacked the New Delhi-Srinagar flight to Pakistan on September 29, 1981. All five belonged to pro-Khalistan radical outfit Dal Khalsa and were demanding release of jailed Khalistani leaders.
Satnam and Tejinderpal have challenged the charge of waging war against India, which entails a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Both are out on bail.
The two returned to India in 1999 after undergoing 14-year imprisonment in Pakistan, where they were convicted and sentenced for kidnapping and hijacking. On return, a case was registered against them in India under IPC Sections 124-A (sedition), 121- A and 121 (waging war against nation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). The trial court dropped the sedition charges.
After their deportation, the two sought discharge from the case registered here. Subsequently, Satnam was discharged in the case. After Tejinderpal sought the same relief, cases against both were reopened.
The other three hijackers never returned to India. Gajinder is still based in Pakistan — he is reportedly not allowed to move out of that country — while Jasbir and Karan were granted asylum in Switzerland. The hijacked Air India flight had 111 passengers and six crew on board. When the plane landed in Lahore, the hijackers released some passengers.
On the morning of September 30, 1981, Pakistani commandos stormed the aircraft and overpowered the hijackers, securing the release of the remaining passengers and crew. There were no casualties.