CM assassination: Why Rajoana not hanged till now, SC on Beant Singh's killer

As former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s killer Balwant Singh Rajoana continued to stare at the gallows since 2007, the Supreme Court on Wednesday wondered why he had not been hanged as yet.

"The question is why didn’t you hang him till now? Who is to be blamed for that? At least we would not have stayed his execution,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath told Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj, who represented the Centre.

The Bench – which also included Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria – made the comments after the ASG said it was a "serious offence".

While hearing Rajoana's plea for commutation of his death penalty to life term on the ground of inordinate delay in the decision on his mercy plea, Nataraj said he would take instructions and apprise it.

The Bench asked the ASG to take clear instructions on the issue. Making it clear that it will not adjourn the matter any further, the top court posted it for hearing on October 15.

On behalf of Rajoana, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that there has been no decision on the convict’s mercy plea. "One does not know what is going on…If the death sentence has to go, commutation must happen. If commutation happens, he can come out," he said, adding he did not know if Rajoana was in solitary confinement in a sane mental condition or not.

As Rajoana’s mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution continued to hang fire, the Supreme Court had on January 20 set March 18 deadline for the Centre to take a call on the contentious issue, failing which it will proceed to decide the matter on merits.

“We are giving you the last chance… Either you decide or we will hear the case on merits,” the Bench had told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who represented the Centre. But things have not moved forward since then.

Convicted of assassinating Beant Singh in 1995, Rajoana (58) — a former Punjab Police constable —has been in jail for more than 29 years, awaiting his execution. The former Punjab Chief Minister and 16 others were killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. Rajoana was sentenced to death in 2007 by a special court. A mercy petition filed by the SGPC on his behalf has been hanging fire for more than 13 years.

On May 3, 2023, the top court had refused to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment and asked the Centre to take decision on his mercy plea “as and when it is deemed necessary”.

More than 16 months after refusing to commute the death penalty of Rajoana, the Supreme Court had on September 25, 2024, agreed to re-examine the issue afresh. It had asked the Centre and the Punjab Government to respond to his fresh petition for commutation of his death penalty on the ground the Centre has failed to take a decision on his March 25, 2012, mercy petition till date.

In his fresh petition, Rajoana submitted that “About 01 year and 04 months have now elapsed since disposal of the petitioner’s first writ petition, and a decision on his fate still hangs under a cloud of uncertainty, causing deep mental trauma and anxiety to the petitioner every single living day, which by itself is a sufficient ground for exercise of this court’s Article 32 powers to allow the reliefs sought.”

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

The MHA had earlier contended that Rajaona’s mercy petition can’t be considered as it was filed by SGPC and not by Rajoana himself and that it can’t be decided until the appeals of other convicts were decided by the top court. Considering the prevailing situation, a decision has been taken by the MHA that it would be appropriate to defer any decision on the mercy petition as it could potentially compromise national security and create a law and order situation, it had said.