Death Row Convict Balwant Singh Rajoana Approaches Supreme Court Seeking Release Due To Delay In Deciding Mercy Petition

The Supreme Court recently issued notices in a petition filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, Babbar Khalsa terrorist and a death row convict, in a petition under Article 32 seeking commutation of the death sentence on the grounds of 'extraordinary' and 'inordinate delay' of 1 year and 4 months in deciding his mercy petition, pending before the President of India.

The petition also seeks his consequential release on the grounds that he has undergone a total sentence of 28 years & 08 months as of date, of which 17 years have been served as a death row convict in an 8” x 10” capital punishment cell, including 2.5 years in solitary confinement. The petition says: "It is submitted that this extraordinary and inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition, for reasons beyond the Petitioner's control and not attributable to him, is an infringement of his right to life guaranteed under Article 21."

A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and K.V. Viswanathan will hear the petition.

Singh, a police officer in Punjab, was convicted on July 27, 2007 under Sections 120-B, 302, 307 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3(b), 4(b) and 5(b) r/w 6 of the Explosives Substances Act, 1908 for an incident involving a bomb blast in 1995 wherein the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh along with 16 others, lost their lives. 

15 accused were convicted, out of which two including the petitioner were sentenced to death, while others were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Punjab & Haryana Court confirmed Singh's conviction on October 12, 2010. However, while confirming the conviction of a co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, the High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment. 

Singh did not file an appeal against the order of the High Court. Thereafter, on March 5, 2012, a death warrant for executing his sentence was issued. However, on March 25, same year, a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution of India was preferred by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee ('SGPC') seeking clemency on Singh's behalf. 

Subsequently, the mercy petition was processed for consideration in the Home Ministry, and a stay against its execution was intimated to the state authorities on March 28, 2012. 

In 2020, Singh filed a writ petition seeking commutation of death penalty. On May 3, 2023, the Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol declined to commute the death penalty but directed that the mercy petition be decided by competent authority in the due course of time.

However, the mercy petition has yet to be decided by the president.

Case Details: Balwant Singh v. UOI & Ors, Diary No. 43131/2024

Appearances: Senior Advocate Mukul Rohagti (for Balwant Singh)

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