Balwant Singh Rajoana seeks withdrawal of mercy plea, warns of hunger strike

Balwant Singh Rajoana case: Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was convicted in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, has once again asked for his mercy petition to be withdrawn. He has written a letter to Sri he Akal Takht, urging it to direct the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to cancel the plea filed on his behalf.

In his letter, Balwant Singh Rajoana said he had been waiting for justice for nearly 30 years but felt ignored. He asked that the mercy petition, which is pending with the President of India, should be withdrawn within 10 days.

Rajoana also warned that if no action is taken, he may go on a hunger strike. He said after spending almost three decades in jail, taking such a step would be painful but unavoidable. This is not the first time he has made such a request. In 2023, he had written a similar letter to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, asking for intervention in the matter.

Rajoana was sentenced to death in 2007 for his role in the bombing that killed Beant Singh and 16 others outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. He has been in jail since then, waiting for the execution of his sentence.

The Supreme Court has also raised questions over the long delay in his case. In 2023, the court refused to reduce his death sentence to life imprisonment and asked the Centre to decide on his mercy plea.

Earlier this year, the court gave the Centre a deadline to take a final decision, warning that it would step in if no action was taken. However, there has been no major development so far.

The mercy petition filed by the SGPC has been pending for more than 13 years.