CM assassination: Why Rajoana not hanged till now, SC asks after Centre says serious offence

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked why death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, held guilty for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, was not hanged till now after the Centre said it was a "serious offence". Rajoana has been incarcerated for the last 29 years, of which 15 years have been on death row. Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria was informed about the seriousness of the crime by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj. "Why did you not hang him till now? Who is to blame for that. At least, we have not stayed the execution," the bench asked Nataraj. The top court is hearing Rajoana's plea for commutation of his death penalty to life term on the ground of delay in the decision on his mercy plea. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, said there has been no decision on his client's mercy plea.

Nataraj said he would take instructions and apprise the bench about the status. "One does not know what is going on," Rohatgi said, adding that the apex court had earlier said the mercy petition should be decided in time. He said they did not know whether Rajoana was in solitary confinement or in a sane sense, or not. "If the death sentence has to go, commutation must happen. If commutation happen, he can come out," Rohatgi said. Contending Rajoana was an Indian citizen, Rohatgi said it was not an "India-Pakistan issue". He said the apex court has observed Rajoana did not file the mercy petition himself but it was filed by a gurdwara committee. The bench posted the case for October 15 and maintained the matter would not be adjourned at the Centre's instance. On January 20, the apex court asked the Centre to take a decision on his mercy petition. The Centre had then referred to the sensitivity involved in the matter and said the mercy petition was under consideration. On September 25 last year, the top court sought responses from the Centre, the Punjab government and the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh on Rajoana's plea. The former Punjab chief minister and 16 others were killed in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. A special court sentenced Rajoana to death in July, 2007. Rajoana's plea, among other things, sought a direction for his release. On May 3, 2023, the apex court refused to commute his death sentence and said the competent authority could deal with his mercy plea. In his fresh plea, Rajoana highlighted having undergone 28.8 years in jail, of which he spent over 15 years as a death row convict. He said in March 2012, a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution was preferred by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee seeking clemency on his behalf.