The Supreme Court has raised sharp questions over why Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted of assassinating former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995, has not been executed even after 29 years. Of this time, Rajoana has already spent 15 years on death row.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria asked the Centre why the death sentence has not been carried out despite the crime being termed a “serious offence.” Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj gave the court details of the case. The judges, however, pressed him to clarify who is responsible for the long delay.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, argued that no decision has been taken on his client’s mercy petition. He explained that the plea was filed by a gurdwara committee, not by Rajoana himself, to seek commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment. Rohatgi added that if the government supports commutation, it must act so Rajoana is not left languishing on death row.
The bench reminded the Centre that it had earlier directed the mercy plea should be decided within a reasonable time. The matter is now scheduled for further hearing on October 15.
