SC gives six more weeks to Centre to decide Rajaona’s mercy plea

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 12

The Supreme Court on Friday gave six more weeks to the Centre to take a decision on the mercy plea of Balwant Singh Rajoana for commuting the death penalty awarded to him in former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case.

Convicted of assassinating Beant Singh in 1995, Rajoana has been in jail for 25 years awaiting his execution. The former Punjab Chief Minister and 16 others were killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995. He was sentenced to death in 2007 by a special court. His mercy petition has been hanging fire for more than eight years.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde – which had on January 25 given a last chance to the Centre to take a call on his mercy plea – granted additional time after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the President was seized of the matter.

“The process has started and the President will take a decision. This is a case where the convict is accused of assassinating a former CM on the issue of ‘Khalistan’,” Mehta told the Bench, requesting it to wait for the President’s decision.

As the Bench asked if he could give a time-frame for the decision, Mehta said he could only speak for the Government and not the President.

On behalf of the petitioner, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi said the convict’s mercy petition had been pending for almost nine years and the case shouldn’t be adjourned for more than two weeks.

Citing Devender Pal Singh Bhullar’s case, the petitioner has claimed that the “Delay caused by circumstances beyond the prisoners’ control mandates commutation of death sentence.” The inordinate delay caused agony and adversely affected his physical and mental health, Rajaona contended.

Earlier, the top court had asked the government to decide Rajoana’s mercy petition before the Republic Day but had extended it at the request of Mehta who had said it would not be prudent to decide the matter at this juncture as it could have some repercussions in the present situation.

The top court had on January 8 asked the Centre to decide by January 26 Rajoana’s mercy plea.

Maintaining that Pendency of appeals by co-accused has no bearing on Presidential pardon granted to a death-row convict, the Supreme Court had on December 4 questioned the Centre over delay in sending proposal to the President for commuting Rajoana’s death penalty.

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