Centre stays hanging of Beant Singh killer

The hanging of Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana, assassin of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, was stayed on Wednesday by the Centre following a mercy petition by the top Sikh religious body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to President Pratibha Patil. The home ministry, in a letter to the Punjab government, stated the execution of 44-year-old Rajoana, scheduled to be carried out on March 31 according to the Chandigarh Sessions Court order, has been stayed. The SGPC had moved the petition under Article 72 of the Constitution for grant of clemency to Rajoana. The home ministry order came soon after Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal met President Patil and sought her intervention.