The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that a plea filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment be listed on October 28, 2026, at the top of the board.
The plea concerns Rajoana’s death sentence in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. His mercy petition has remained pending since 2012.
During the hearing before the bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh, the counsel appearing for Rajoana pointed out the repeated adjournments in the matter over the years.
The Court, in its order, noted that pursuant to its earlier orders dated September 23 and September 26, a compilation of judgments had been provided to counsel. “Pursuant to earlier orders dated September 23 and 26, compilation of judgments has been provided to counsel,” the Court recorded.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj sought a short accommodation on behalf of the Union.
The Supreme Court consequently directed that the matter be listed on October 28, 2026, at the top of the board.
Notably, in August the Court
directed that a plea filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, seeking commutation of his death sentence in the former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case on the ground of delay, be listed when a three-Judge Bench is constituted.In April, the Court had
directed the Centre to file its affidavit within two weeks in response to a
plea by Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has sought commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment due to inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition.
Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination of then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, has been in custody for over 29 years and on death row for more than 15 years.In September 2024, the Supreme Court had sought responses from the Union government, the Punjab government and the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh on Rajoana’s plea. Beant Singh and 16 others were killed in a bomb 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 sought directions for his release, relying on the extraordinary delay in deciding his mercy petition. On May 3, 2023, however, the Supreme Court had declined to commute his death sentence, observing that the competent authority was free to decide the mercy plea in accordance with law.
In his fresh plea, Rajoana highlighted that he had undergone nearly 28.8 years of imprisonment, including more than 15 years as a death row convict. He pointed out that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee had submitted a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution in March 2012 seeking clemency on his behalf. In January this year, Supreme Court had granted last chance to the central government to decide on Balwant Singh Rajoana's mercy plea. Earlier, the apex court had also asked the President of India to consider Balwant Singh Rajoana, the accused in assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, mercy petition within two weeks' time. Supreme Court had refused to grant any interim relief to Rajoana, who approached court with a fresh petition seeking to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment. In May 2023, Supreme Court had observed that the Central government may at a future date consider death-row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana's mercy petition while dismissing his plea to commute his death sentence. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Rajoana and told the court that he had served 27 years in jail and his mercy petition was filed in 2012 but still had not been decided. In October 2022, when the matter was taken up by a bench of then CJI UU Lalit, Justice Bhat and Justice Trivedi, the court had noted that the appeals by the co-accused in the case were pending before the Supreme Court and suggested that Singh's plea be taken up with them. Rajoana was convicted in 1995 and has been in jail awaiting his execution. Former Punjab CM Beant Singh and sixteen other people were killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995. After being sentenced to death in 2007 by a special court, Rajoana's mercy petition has been pending since 2012.
Case Title: Balwant Singh v. Union of India and Ors.
Bench: Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh
Hearing Date: October 7, 2026