Why did you not hang him till now: Supreme Court seeks Centres response in Rajoanas mercy plea
A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria rebuked the Central government asking “Why did you not hang him till now? Who is to blame for that?”
PTC News Desk: The Supreme Court on Monday heard the petition filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana seeking commutation of the death sentence awarded to him connection with the Beant Singh assassination case.
A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria rebuked the Central government asking “Why did you not hang him till now? Who is to blame for that?”
Balwant Singh Rajoana is seeking commutation on the grounds of the delay in considering the mercy petition pending before the President of India since 2012.
Notably Balwant Singh Rajoana has been incarcerated for more than 29 years.
Rajoana, a former Punjab police official was convicted on July 27, 2007 by a special CBI court under Sections 120-B, 302, 307 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3(b), 4(b) and 5(b) r/w 6 of the Explosives Substances Act, 1908 for an incident involving a deadly suicide bombing at the Chandigarh secretariat complex on August 31, 1995, wherein the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh along with 16 others, lost their lives.
Representing Balwant Singh Rajoana, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohtagi submitted a petition before the bench citing inordinate delay in deciding on his smercy petition.
"This man has been on death row for 15 years. So, when I came to your lordship in the earlier petition, your lordship said no, he has not moved the mercy petition. The Gurudwara Committee has moved.. With great respect, this is contrary to the provisions. The provisions say it does not matter who moves; it should be considered. It is a matter of Article 21 and 433 [CrPC]. Your lordship finally said, so much time has gone by, they should decide it sometime. This was said two and a half years ago," the plea stated.
The hearing has been deferred to October 15.