CONFUSION AFTER RAJOANA DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTATION

Punjab says UT has to take final call; UT home secretary sends letter to LR for opinion

CHANDIGARH: The Union ministry of home affairs has commuted the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassination, sources aware of the development said.

CHANDIGARH: The Union home ministry’s ‘order’ on commuting death sentence of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s killer Balwant Singh Rajoana to life imprisonment has led to confusion on its implementation. For now, the Punjab government and the Chandigarh administration (both were sent the letter around three weeks ago) have dealt with it in their own way.

“There is no clarity in the letter on Rajoana. Though, it clearly directs us about the remission of sentence of the three convicts (in cases not related to Rajoana); however, it is not clear if the matter regarding Rajoana is a recommendation or an order,” an official dealing with the case told HT. Death sentence is commuted only after taking necessary approval of the President of India, who is empowered to commute death sentence under Article 72 of the Constitution, officials add.

The Punjab government, meanwhile, has put the ball in the UT’s court claiming that since Rajoana, lodged in Central Jail, Patiala, has been convicted of a crime in the UT, the home ministry’s letter has been forwarded to the UT for necessary action.

“Rajoana’s only Punjab connection in this case is that he is lodged in Patiala jail. It is actually the UT that has to take the final call. If the UT informs us that it has granted the convict premature release, since he has already spent over 20 years in jail, we would release him. He is the UT’s prisoner, not us,” said Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, jails minister, Punjab.

The UT, on its part, has sent the letter to the Legal Remembrancer (LR) for an opinion. “Any further action related to the communication from the letter by the MHA will be taken after the LR gives his view,” said Arun Gupta, home secretary, UT. The Union government had projected the commute to Rajoana as its goodwill gesture to the Sikh community on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak.

Officials say there is also confusion on whether the Babbar

Khalsa activist can walk free if his death sentence commutes to life; he has been in jail for 24 years. “The orders are also mum on the issue,” said an official.

BEANT’S GRANDSON REFUSES TO COMMENT

Beant’s grandson, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, refused to comment on Tuesday on the commutation of death sentence to Rajoana, saying he would not like to comment on such an issue on the day the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak was being celebrated.

Last month, however, Bittu had called the commutation as petty politics and had even sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue. “I am ready to forgive Rajoana, if he shows remorse. He (Rajoana), however, has been openly saying that he will commit the same crime again once released from prison. How can the government be soft on such dreaded terrorists, who feel no remorse?” Bittu has said previously.