Decide on mercy plea of Beant Singh's assassin or we will: SC to Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would consider the the mercy petition of death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, if the Centre does not decide on it "either way".

A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan adjourned for two weeks the former Punjab Police constable's plea seeking commutation of his death sentence to life term due to an "inordinate delay" in deciding his mercy petition.

"Decide it either way or we will consider it (Rajoana's plea)," the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, after he informed the court that Rajoana's mercy plea was pending with the president's house.

Rajoana has been in continuous custody for 29 years, said his counsel, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, while seeking his release till the mercy petition is decided.

"His mercy petition has been pending with the president's house for the past 12 years. Please release him for six or three months. At least let him see what the outside world looks like," Rohatgi submitted.

The bench was informed by the Punjab government that they need some time to file their counter affidavit in the case.

Mehta also submitted that Rajoana was convicted for assassinating the sitting chief minister of Punjab and he needs to seek instructions on the issue.

The bench told Rohatgi, "We will give them two weeks time to file their counter-affidavit. We need to see their response."  On September 25, the top court had sought responses from the Centre, the Punjab government and the administration of the union territory of Chandigarh on Rajoana's plea.

The then Punjab chief minister and 16 others were killed in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.

A special court sentenced Rajoana to death in July 2007.

Rajoana has said that a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution was moved by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on his behalf in March 2012.

On May 3 last year, the apex court had refused to commute his death sentence and said the competent authority could deal with his mercy plea.