Beant Singh case: SC asks Centre to decide on Balwant Rajoana's mercy plea in 2 months
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday directed the Centre to decide within two months Balwant Singh Rajoana's plea that his death sentence in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh be commuted to life term on ground of his long incarceration of nearly 26 years.
A special court had in July 2007 awarded the death sentence to Rajoana in the case. A Bench headed by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said the pendency of appeals of other co-convicts in the Supreme Court in the case would not come in the way of authorities in deciding Balwant Singh Rajoana's plea.
Rajoana, a former Punjab Police constable, was convicted for his involvement in an explosion outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat that killed Beant Singh and 16 others on August 31, 1995.
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The apex court has been hearing Rajoana's plea seeking commutation of the death sentence to life term on the ground that he has been in jail for 26 years. The order comes after the Supreme Court in March directed the Union Government to immediately take a decision on granting pardon to Balwant Singh Rajoana, asking it to file an action-taken report on the decision.
A further hearing was listed for May 2 in case the Centre fails to make a decision. The apex court had expressed displeasure over the government not taking any clear stand despite being given time by the court to do so.
"Nothing has been done in the matter and the counsel appearing for Union of India has no clear instructions. We direct that the matter shall immediately be looked into by the concerned authorities including the Government of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)," the Supreme Court had stated.
Rajoana had moved the top court two years ago seeking implementation of a decision taken by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in September 2019 to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment.
Both the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) had filed mercy petitions for Balwant Singh Rajoana.
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-PTC News 
A further hearing was listed for May 2 in case the Centre fails to make a decision. The apex court had expressed displeasure over the government not taking any clear stand despite being given time by the court to do so.
