New Delhi, Sept 24 (UNI) The Supreme Court today adjourned the hearing on the mercy petition of death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana till October 15, who was sentenced for the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. The court made it clear that no further adjournments would be granted.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria was hearing the matter concerning the delay in deciding Rajoana’s mercy plea.
Appearing for Rajoana, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that his client has been in jail for 29 years, including 15 years on death row. He argued that under constitutional provisions, the source of a mercy petition, whether filed by the convict or by others, was immaterial, and that prolonged incarceration on death row violated Article 21 of the Constitution.
Rohatgi pointed out that mercy petitions in this case were moved by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, not by Rajoana personally, and contended that the delay in their disposal was unconstitutional. He further argued that the excessive time spent on death row itself warranted commutation of the death sentence.
Additional solicitor general Nataraj, appearing for the union government, sought time to file complete instructions. The bench granted the request, but cautioned that the matter would not be adjourned again at the instance of the respondents.
Rajoana was convicted in 2007 for his role in the conspiracy leading to the car bomb assassination of Beant Singh outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995.
