Supreme Court Directs Listing Of Balwant Singh Rajoana’s Death Sentence Plea Before 3-Judge Bench
Supreme Court directed listing of Balwant Singh Rajoana’s death sentence plea before a three Judge Bench
The Supreme Court on Tuesday 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.
The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing an application seeking early hearing of the matter.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, submitted that he had been in jail for nearly 30 years and that the matter had remained pending for around two-and-a-half years. He said the Supreme Court had repeatedly directed the Union government to respond, but no response had been filed.
“This is an application for early hearing before three judges. He has been in jail for 30 years. The matter is pending for the last two and a half years. Repeated orders have passed by the court asking the Union to respond. They haven't responded,” Rohatgi submitted.
Justice Vikram Nath pointed out that the present Bench comprised two judges and questioned how a date could be fixed for a matter requiring consideration by a three-Judge Bench.
“How can I fix the date for a three-Judge Bench matter? This is a two-Judge Bench,” Justice Nath said, suggesting that the Chief Justice be approached for listing or that the matter be considered when he was sitting in a three-Judge combination.
Rohatgi urged the Bench to direct that the matter be listed whenever a three-Judge Bench was constituted, stressing that 30 years had passed since Rajoana’s incarceration.
“We can't hear it in two-Judge combination,” Justice Nath observed.
The Court thereafter directed that the matter be listed when a three-Judge Bench sits.
Rajoana was sentenced to death for his role in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was killed in a bomb blast outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995.
Background
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 and Sandeep Mehta
Hearing Date: August 18, 2026