Balwant Singh Rajoana convicted of murdering former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.
The Supreme Court will now hear the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana on March 18. Rajoana has appealed to have his death sentence commuted on the grounds of “extraordinary” and “unreasonable delay”.
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It has been argued in the petition that the Government of India has taken a long time to decide on his mercy petition. He has been in jail for almost 29 years.
live from the courtroom
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi in the Supreme Court argued that the case of Rajoana’s death sentence was before the then Chief Justice S.A. Pending since Bobde’s tenure. He said Rajoana has been facing death sentence for 15 years and has been in jail for the last 29 years. He argued that he should now be released.
Justice B.R. Gawai – Either you take the decision, otherwise we will hear the case on merit. But every case is not the same. There is also an option of life imprisonment.
Rohatgi – The death sentence in the Bhullar case was commuted to life imprisonment.
Justice Gavai – This case will be heard on March 18, 2025.
Rohatgi – Permission should be given to present the medical report.”
Justice Gavai – It will be taken care of.”
Supreme Court order- We will hear the case on merits on March 18. If a decision can be taken by then, it would be good.
Know what happened before this
Justice B.R. A bench of Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Vishwanathan heard the case. On November 18, the court had requested that a decision on the mercy petition pending with the President be taken within two weeks. The court had also said that if the mercy petition was not considered within the stipulated time limit, it would consider the petition for granting interim relief.
However, after passing the order in open court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta immediately appealed. He said the issue involved “sensitivity” and requested that the order not be signed and uploaded. The Court accepted this request and refrained from finalizing and uploading the order.
These arguments were placed in the court
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi (for Rajoana) described the delay in deciding the mercy petition as “shocking”. He said that this person has been in custody continuously for 29 years till date. He was originally convicted of bombing crimes in 1996.
Before Rohatgi finished speaking, Justice Gavai asked the Punjab counsel whether any reply had been filed against the notice issued. The lawyer replied that he could not file the report due to leave. On this, Gavai said that the court is ready to give 2 weeks time to the state of Punjab to file its reply.
Argument given for release in 6 months
After this Rohatgi pressed for interim relief. He said that he has been in jail for the last 29 years. His mercy petition has not been disposed of, while the Supreme Court has commuted the sentences of others in this case to life imprisonment.
His petition was disposed of by the bench in May 2023 saying that they (the authorities concerned) would take action on the mercy petition in due course. One and a half years have passed. A man who is now in jail for 29 years should be released for 6 months or 3 months.
He is a finished person. At least, let him see what is outside…you cannot completely violate his Article 21. On this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta strongly opposed any interim relief to Rajoana.
The petition also seeks his release on the ground that he has so far served a total sentence of 28 years and 08 months, out of which he served 17 years as a death row convict in an 8″ x 10″ death penalty cell. Of which 2.5 years have been spent in solitary confinement.
Rajoana accused of Beant Singh murder
Former Chief Minister of Punjab Beant Singh was assassinated on 31 August 1995. According to the statement of Balwant Singh Rajoana, he and Punjab Police personnel Dilawar Singh had blown up Beant Singh with a human bomb. Dilawar Singh had attacked Beant Singh by posing as a human bomb. The conspiracy was hatched in such a way that if Dilawar failed, the attack was to be carried out from Rajoana’s side. The court had sentenced Rajoana to death.
