New Delhi, Nov 18 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Secretary, President of India to place the mercy plea of 57-year-old death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana before President Droupadi Murmu for taking a decision within two weeks.
Rajoana, a Babbar Khalsa terrorist, was awarded the death sentence for the assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995.
A special bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice K.V. Viswanathan was hearing the petition filed by Rajoana under Article 32 seeking commutation of the death sentence on the grounds of ‘extraordinary’ and ‘inordinate delay’ of 1 year and 4 months in deciding his mercy petition, which is pending before the President of India.
Justice Gavai said, “Despite the matter being specifically kept today, none appeared for Union of India. The bench was assembled only for this case. On the last date, the matter was adjourned to enable the union to take instructions from the office of the President as to when the mercy plea will be decided, ” the bench said.
The court said, ” taking into consideration that the petitioner is on death row, we direct the secretary to the President of India to place the matter before the President with a request to consider the same within two weeks from today.”
The Bench further directed, “In case no decision is taken by the next date we will consider the prayers made for interim relief.’
Justice BR Gavai asked why Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who was to appear on behalf of the state is not present today.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Rajoana, said, that there was no reply from the union yet. “28-29 years have gone by. The persons convicted in the Bhullar case were also decided,’ he said.
“My petition was from 2012. This person has not seen the light of the day. Let state say that it has no objection ,” Rohatagi said.
The Senior Advocate cited another case and said, “There is an example of the same batch of cases. The government says it is not the right time to decide this. When then after his life is over? This is not a case of national security case, he said.
Counsel appearing for the State of Punjab said that the Union has submitted earlier that there is a national threat if he is released. The state of Punjab was only issued notice because he is in Punjab jail.
Justice Gavai asked, “but where did the offence take place.’
The State replied, “It happened in Punjab but trial was in Chandigarh.’
Justice Gavai, ‘But why is union not here? This is a special bench constituted. How can this be?’.
The matter pertains to Balwant Singh, a police officer in Punjab, who was convicted on July 27, 2007, by a special Central Bureau of Investigation Court, for an incident involving a deadly suicide bombing at the Chandigarh secretariat complex on August 31, 1995, wherein the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh along with 16 others, lost their lives.
He was booked under Sections 120-B, 302, 307 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3(b), 4(b) and 5(b) r/w 6 of the Explosives Substances Act, 1908.
On September 27, the Supreme Court bench issued notice on this petition. It came up for hearing on November 4 but the Union sought some time to take instructions in regard to how much time the President of India needs to decide the mercy petition.
Out of 15 accused persons named in the FIR, Balwant Singh Rajoana along with 8 others, were put to trial and convicted for the aforesaid offences.
The other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. In total, 15 were convicted.
Along with Rajoana, co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, allegedly the mastermind behind the operation, was also sentenced to death.
At the same time, co-accused Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh, and Lakhwinder Singh were awarded life imprisonment.
The verdict was delivered inside the high-security Burail jail in Chandigarh.
The assailant was one Dilawar Singh, a police officer, who along with two other officials of the Punjab police, namely, Rajoana and one Lakhwinder Singh, had, allegedly in response to Operation Bluestar and the anti-Sikh pogrom in Delhi in 1984, was tasked with executing the Congress leader, known for his robust counterterrorism policies.
Rajoana, a police constable, was not only responsible for ensuring that Singh reached the chief minister after crossing the security ring in the complex but was also equipped with a backup explosive device in case the first plan failed.
Separatist group Babbar Khalsa International, whose primary goal was to establish a sovereign homeland called Khalistan for people of their faith, took responsibility for the assassination.
The Punjab & Haryana High Court confirmed Rajoana’s conviction on October 12, 2010. In the same judgement, the High Court commuted the death sentence of a co-accused Jagtar Singh to life imprisonment.
Singh did not file an appeal against the High Court’s order.
He refused to defend himself against the charges levelled by the State, in a display of open derision of the Indian judicial system.
On March 5, 2012, a death warrant for executing his sentence was issued.
On March 25, the same year, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (‘SGPC’) filed a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution of India seeking clemency on Singh’s behalf.
Subsequently, the mercy petition was processed for consideration in the Home Ministry, and a stay against his execution was intimated to the state authorities on March 28, 2012.
The petitioner claimed that the Union government had announced in 2019 that it would commute Rajoana’s death sentence to life imprisonment, besides sanctioning the premature release of eight Sikh prisoners serving life and other sentences as a humanitarian gesture to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
However, it was informed by the government that Rajoana had not been freed from death row.
In 2020, Singh filed a writ petition seeking the commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment.
On March 24, 2022, a bench of Justice UU Lalit, Justice SR Bhat and Justice PS Narasimha directed the Central Government to take a call by April 30, 2022 with respect to the mercy petition.
In May, the same year, the bench directed that the mercy petition be decided within 2 months irrespective of the appeals pending before the Court.
The Home Ministry had filed an affidavit stating that the mercy petition could not be considered as it had been filed by another organization and not the convict himself.
It was also stated the mercy petition cannot be decided until the appeals filed by other convicts in the case before the Supreme Court are disposed of (Rajoana did not challenge his conviction or sentence, either before the High Court or the Supreme Court).
Rohatgi contested the State’s claim that Rajoana’s sentence had not been commuted because of ‘security concerns’ and the pendency of an appeal filed by a co-accused.
He argued: “To keep a prisoner on death row for so long violates their fundamental rights and is a ground for the death sentence to be commuted. The moment he gets his commutation order, he can apply to be released since he has already spent 27 years behind bars, Rohatgi contended.
“It is inhuman, the Senior Advocate said and added if you wish to wait for the government’s response to the mercy appeals, then at the very least, grant the petitioner parole. He wants to go to his village, and he will stay there.”
On May 3, 2023, the Supreme Court bench of Justice BR Gavai, Justice Vikram Nath, and Justice Sanjay Karol declined to commute the death penalty but directed that the mercy petition be decided by a competent authority in due course of time. However, the President has yet to decide on the mercy petition.
The Court then said, “In case no decision is taken by the next date we will consider the prayers made for interim relief.”
The Court listed the case for the next hearing on December 5, 2024, at 10:30 am.
