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Synopsis

The Supreme Court today observed that the Central government may at a future date consider death-row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana's mercy petition.

With this view, the court has dismissed Rajoana's plea to commute his death sentence. On March 2, 2023, Supreme Court had reserved orders in Rajoana's mercy petition.

Rajoana has been held guilty in the former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol had reserved its verdict after both parties had concluded their arguments.

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 last year, 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.

The Court had previously sought the Central Government's response in the mercy petition filed by Rajoana. A then Chief Justice of India UU Lalit led bench had asked the Centre to submit its decision within one day. Court had ordered that an affidavit be filed by a responsible officer.

“We can’t force you to take what decision…but you have to take one”, the then CJI had remarked.

Earlier in May last year, Court had directed the Centre to take a decision on Rajoana's plea in two months without being influenced by pending appeals of other convicts in the case.

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 vs. Union of India and Ors.