Supreme Court asks President to decide on death row convict Balwant Singh’s mercy petition within two weeks

Specifically on Rohatgi’s arguments on national security, the Punjab counsel replied: “An affidavit has been filed by the Union, in which the affidavit states a national threat that there is a national threat in the release of this person.”

Judge Gavai first wondered why the state of Punjab says it has no role in this case. To this, the counsel replied that the notice was issued to them because the petitioner is in one of the jails in Punjab. He added that the crime took place in Punjab but the trial and conviction took place in Chandigarh. That’s why Chandigarh is also a party.

The bench stated that the special bench was established only for this issue but refused to grant interim relief as requested by Rohatgi.

The Court ruled: “The sofa has been specially put together for this purpose. At the latter date, the matter was adjourned to enable the Union of India to take instructions from the office of the Hon’ble President of India as to the period within which the mercy petition of the petitioner would be decided. We therefore direct, Secretary, the President of India to place the matter before the Honorable President, requesting him to consider the same within two weeks from today. We clarify that if no decision is taken by the next date, we will consider the petitioner’s prayers for interim measures.”

Background

Of the 15 accused named in the FIR, Balwant Singh Rajoana along with 08 others were tried and convicted for the above crimes. Others, on the other hand, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Along with Rajoana, co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, who was allegedly the mastermind behind the operation, was also sentenced to death

At the same time, co-accused Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh were given life imprisonment. The verdict was delivered at Burail high security jail in Chandigarh. A total of 15 were convicted.

The attacker was one Dilawar Singh, a police officer, who along with two other officials of the Punjab Police namely Rajoana and one Lakhwinder Singh, allegedly in response to Operation Bluestar and the anti-Sikh pogrom in Delhi in 1984 arrested. tasked with executing the congressional leader known for his robust counter-terrorism policies. Rajoana, a police officer, was not only responsible for Singh reaching the chief minister after crossing the security ring in the complex but was also equipped with a backup explosive in case the first plan failed. The separatist group Babbar Khalsa International, whose primary goal is to establish a sovereign homeland called Khalistan for people of their faith, took responsibility for the killing.

The Punjab & Haryana Court upheld Rajoana’s conviction on October 12, 2010. While the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, it commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.

Singh has not appealed the Supreme Court order. He advised and refused to defend himself against the state’s accusations, in a show of open mockery of the Indian legal system. Thereafter, a death sentence was issued on March 5, 2012 for the execution of his sentence. However, on March 25 the same year, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (‘SGPC’) preferred a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution of India, seeking clemency on Singh’s behalf.

Subsequently, the request for mercy was submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for consideration, and on March 28, 2012, a postponement of its execution was communicated to the state authorities.

The petitioner alleged that the Union government had announced in 2019 that it would commute Rajoana’s death sentence to life imprisonment, besides sanctioning the premature release of eight Sikh prisoners serving life and other sentences as a humanitarian gesture on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. . However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah later informed the Lok Sabha that Rajoana had not been released from death row.

In 2020, Singh filed a petition seeking a commutation of the death penalty. On March 24, 2022, a bench of Justices UU Lalit, SR Bhat and PS Narasimha directed the central government to respond to a summons regarding the mercy petition by April 30, 2022. In May of the same year, the court ordered that the request for mercy be decided within two months, regardless of the appeals pending before the Court.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had filed an affidavit stating that the mercy petition could not be processed as it was submitted by another organization and not by the convict himself. It was also stated that the mercy petition cannot be decided until the appeals filed by other convicts in the case in the Supreme Court are not disposed of (Rajoana has not challenged his conviction or sentence either in the Supreme Court or at the Supreme Court).

Rohatgi vigorously contested before the Court the state’s claim that Rajoana’s sentence had not yet been commuted due to “security concerns” and the pendency of an appeal filed by a co-accused. He argued: “According to the rulings of this court, keeping a prisoner on death row for so long is a violation of their fundamental rights and is a reason to commute their sentence. Rajoana has the right to be released from death row immediately. When he receives his commutation order, he can apply for release, as he has already spent 27 years behind bars. It’s inhumane. Alternatively, if you want to wait for the government’s response to the clemency requests, you can at least release the petitioner on parole. He wants to go to his village, and there he will stay.”

On May 3, 2023, the Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol refused to commute the death penalty, but ordered that the request for mercy be decided by a competent authority in due course. However, the president has yet to decide on the mercy request.

Case details: Balwant Singh v UOI & Ors, WP(Crl.) No. 414/2024

Appearances: Senior Advocate Mukul Rohagti (for Balwant Singh)