Supreme Court refuses to commute death sentence of Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana

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Beant Singh Assassination Case: The Supreme Court has refused to commute the death sentence of Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana who was convicted for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to commute the death sentence of the Khalistan activist to life imprisonment and directed the Centre to take a decision on his request for compassion.

The ruling was handed out by a three-judge panel made up of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol, who had on March 2 reserved their decision on Rajoana’s petition for the commutation of his death sentence on the grounds that the Centre had taken an unusually long time to decide on his mercy petition.

“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 the decision for decision given thereunder…it actually amounts to a decision declining to grant the same for the present. Therefore, we have directed that the competent authority in due course of time would again, as and when they deem necessary, may deal with the mercy petition and take a further decision,” Justice Nath, who pronounced the verdict, said, disposing of Rajoana’s petition.

Rajoana has spent the last 25 years in prison while awaiting execution after being found guilty of killing Beant Singh in 1995. In an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995, the former chief minister of Punjab and 16 other people perished. A specialised court handed down the death penalty to him in 2007. His pleading for compassion has been unanswered for more than eight years.

Senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi had argued on behalf of Rajoana that it was a violation of his fundamental rights to detain Rajoana on death row while deliberating over his mercy request for so long.

Rajaona’s mercy petition was filed by a different organisation than Rajoana himself, and the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj argued that it cannot be taken into consideration until the Supreme Court has ruled on the appeals of other prisoners.

It’s interesting to note that Rajoana has not contested his guilt or punishment. The Bench, however, claimed that Rajoana has received a number of official messages from the authorities.

Earlier, the Centre had refuted the petitioner’s claim that a final decision to commute his death sentence was made in 2019.

The top court had earlier noted that Rajoana had filed a plea under Article 32, which can be interpreted as an endorsement of the mercy petition. Throughout the hearing, the top court had repeatedly urged the Centre to clarify its position on Rajoana’s mercy appeal.

“We can’t force you to take what decision…but you have to take a decision,” a Bench led by the then Chief Justice of India UU Lalit had told the Centre in September last year.

The petitioner stated with reference to Devender Pal Singh Bhullar’s case that “Delay caused by circumstances beyond the prisoners’ control mandates commutation of death sentence.” Rajaona claimed that the excessive delay hurt and had a negative impact on his physical and mental well-being.

Rajaona had claimed that the excessive delay hurt and had a negative impact on his physical and mental well-being.

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Ajeyo Basu

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