New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Union government four weeks more to decide the mercy petition filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in the 1995 assassination case of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and others.

A Special Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai agreed to defer the hearing for four weeks after Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, the second-highest law officer of the Centre, submitted that more inputs from agencies were needed, considering the “sensitivities” involved in the matter.

Earlier on November 18, the Bench, also comprising Justices P.K. Mishra and K.V. Viswanathan, requested President Murmu to consider the mercy petition filed on behalf of Balwant Singh Rajoana within two weeks.

It had asked the Secretary to the President of India to place before President Murmu the mercy petition filed by Rajoana, clarifying that if Rajoana’s mercy petition is not decided within two weeks, it will proceed to consider his application for interim release.

Within hours, the Supreme Court agreed not to upload its order after SG Mehta made an urgent mention before the Justice Gavai-led Bench.

Considering the sensitivities involved, the law officer had requested that the order passed in his absence not be signed and uploaded.

Mehta added that the batch of files pertaining to Rajoana’s mercy petition remained with the Union Home Ministry, not the President’s Secretariat.

The apex court was hearing a writ petition filed by Rajoana challenging an over 12-year-long delay in deciding the mercy petition seeking commutation of his death penalty.

In May last year, the Supreme Court had turned down Rajoana’s plea seeking commutation of his death penalty and had said, “It is within the domain of the Executive to take a call on such sensitive issues.”

It was noted that Rajoana himself never submitted any mercy petition, and the alleged mercy petition of 2012 was filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

After disposing of the plea, the apex court directed that the competent authority would, in due course of time, deal with the mercy petition again as and when deemed necessary and take a further decision.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, along with 16 others, lost their lives while a dozen others were injured in a bomb blast in August 1995.

Rajoana was arrested on January 27, 1996. Rajoana, along with eight others, who had hatched a conspiracy and had executed the bomb blast, were put to trial.

In July 2007, the trial court convicted Rajoana and co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, Gurmeet Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Shamsher Singh and Nasib Singh.

The petitioner, along with co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, was awarded the death sentence.

In a death reference, the High Court, vide judgment dated December 10, 2010, confirmed the petitioner’s conviction and sentence.

However, while confirming the conviction of co-accused Jagtar Singh, it commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.

The other co-accused preferred to appeal before the top court. However, Rajoana did not file an appeal after the High Court’s judgement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

–IANS