The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to commute the death penalty of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, to life imprisonment.
The court said the competent authority (Government) may deal with Rajoana’s mercy plea.
“What we have decided is that the stand of the Ministry of Home Affairs to defer the decision on the mercy petition of the petitioner is also our decision for the reasons given hereunder...
“This actually amounts to declining grant the same (remission) for the present. Therefore, we have directed that the competent authority will again as and when they deem necessary will deal with the mercy petition and take a further decision. The writ petition (of Rajoana) is disposed of accordingly,” a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol said. Rajoana has been in jail for the past 26 years.
On March 2, the top court had reserved its verdict on the plea of Rajoana after hearing the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the convict, and Additional Solicitor General K M Natraj. Rohatgi had said that his client was in jail for 26 years and has a substantive case based on the judgements of the apex court that his rights under Article 21 of the Constitution (the right to protection of life and personal liberty) has been violated.
Rajoana, a former Punjab Police constable, was convicted for his involvement in an explosion outside the Punjab civil secretariat that killed Beant Singh and 16 others on August 31, 1995. A special court sentenced him to death in July 2007.