Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday told the Lok Sabha that no pardon has been given to Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was convicted for the assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995.
During the Question Hour, Congress member from Punjab Ravneet Singh Bittu sought a response from Shah on why Rajoana was pardoned.
Bittu is the grandson of Beant Singh.
Asking the member not to go by media reports, the home minister said, "koi maafi ki nahi gayi (no pardon has been given)".
In September, the Union Home Ministry officials had announced the central government's decision to commute the death sentence of Rajoana to life imprisonment.
The decision was taken as a "humanitarian gesture" on the occasion of 550th birth celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, the officials had said.
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 in 1995.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is part of the Narendra
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