Balwant Rajoana mercy plea: Supreme Court adjourns case by four weeks

Balwant Singh Rajoana has been in prison for 29 years and on the death row since 2007

A Special Bench of the Supreme Court of India on Monday (November 25, 2024) listed death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana’s mercy plea in the Beant Singh assassination case after four weeks following a submission by the Union Government that it is waiting for crucial inputs in the sensitive case.

Rajoana has been in prison for 29 years and on the death row since 2007. For 12 of these years, he was confined in solitary imprisonment. He has argued, through his counsel, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, that prolonged delay in deciding his mercy plea, leading a debilitating uncertainty about his death penalty was cruelty and by itself a ground for commutation of his punishment to life sentence.

Last week had seen the Special Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai initially dictated an order in open court, directing the Secretary to the President of India to place Rajoana’s mercy plea before the President with a request to take a call in a fortnight. The Special Bench recorded in this order that if no decision of the President was forthcoming, the Supreme Court would consider Rajoana’s plea for interim relief. This order was dictated in the absence of any lawyer representing the Union Government during the hearing.

However, as soon as the hearing was over, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had rushed in, apologised for the lack of representation, and subsequently managed to convince the court to withdraw its order and simply adjourn the case to November 25.

Mr. Mehta informed that Rajoana’s mercy plea file was still with the Home Ministry and not before the President. He highlighted the fact that the convict had been found guilty for the murder of a former Punjab Chief Minister. The issue was highly sensitive.

On Monday (November 25, 2024), however, Additional Solicitor General K.M. Natraj successfully urged the court for time for a further four weeks, saying the Centre was collating further inputs in the case.

In an earlier hearing, the Centre had said there were charges of involvement of Khalistani elements in the assassination.

Published - November 25, 2024 11:58 am IST