Rajoana plea: SC gives Centre two months
Apex court says pendency of appeals of other co-convicts should not come in way of decision
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to decide the plea of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana, seeking commutation of his death sentence, within two months.
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 had in July 2007 awarded him the death sentence. Rajoana has pleaded that his sentence be commuted to life imprisonment on ground of his long incarceration of nearly 26 years.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to decide the plea of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana, seeking commutation of his death sentence, within two months.
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 had in July 2007 awarded him the death sentence. Rajoana has pleaded that his sentence be commuted to life imprisonment on ground of his long incarceration of nearly 26 years.
The apex court did not consider the submission of the Centre that the death row convict has been on record in saying that “he has no faith in the Indian judiciary and the Constitution” and these are relevant factors.
“These all are our citizens and we must have compassion when we are dealing with our citizens especially when it is a death sentence matter,” said the bench comprising Justices Uday Umesh Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and PS Narasimha. It said the pendency of appeals of other co-accused in the apex court in the case would not come in the way of authorities in deciding Rajoana’s mercy plea.
“Without getting into the controversy whether the petitioner (Rajoana) himself preferred the mercy petition, we consider the
communication on record and the fact that the petitioner has preferred the writ petition,” it said. “In our view, there would be no obstruction in the light of the direction of this court, and the matter could be and had to be considered despite the pendency of the appeal by the co-accused,” the bench said, asking the Centre to take a decision “as early as possible” and listing the matter in the second week of July.
At the outset, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, said the death row convict has been in jail for nearly 26 years, and not deciding on his prayer for commutation of the death penalty into life term itself is flawed under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. He said the convict is entitled to a decision from the court on his plea.
Earlier, the top court had questioned the Centre over the delay in sending a proposal to the President for commuting the death sentence of Rajoana. It had asked the government to apprise it as to when the authorities concerned will send the proposal under Article 72 of the Constitution, which deals with the power of the President to grant pardon, suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases.