'No Interim Relief Without Hearing': Supreme Court Adjourns Balwant Singh's Plea To Commute Death Sentence In Punjab CM Assassination Case
Gursimran Kaur Bakshi
4 Nov 2024 11:27 AM IST
The Supreme Court today (November 4) deferred the plea filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, 57 years, Babbar Khalsa terrorist and a death row convict, to November 18.
A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and K.V. Viswanathan stated that they would only consider for relief after having heard the matter.
The Court had issued notices on September 27 in a petition filed by Rajoana, 57 years, 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, which remains pending before the President of India.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi (for Rajoana) termed the delay in deciding the mercy petition as "shocking". He said: "This man has been in custody without break for 29 years till today. Originally he was convicted for an offence of bomb explosion in 1996. After conviction..."
Before Rohatgi could complete, Justice Gavai asked the Punjab Counsel if a reply had been filed against the notice issued. The Counsel replied that they could not file a report because of the vacation.
On this, Gavai expressed that the Court is willing to give 2 weeks for State of Punjab to file a reply.
Rohatgi then pressed for an interim relief. He said: "After 29 years out of which 15 years he has been on death row, they have not disposed of my mercy plea when others have been commuted to life imprisonment in this case by the Supreme Court. And my early petition was disposed of in May 2023 by the bench saying that they(concerned authorities) will take action on the mercy plea in due course. 1 and half years have gone by. A man who is now in 29 years [in jail], release him for 6 months or 3 months. He is a finished person. At least, let him see what is outside....You cannot have complete violation of his Article 21."
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta vehemently opposed any interim relief to Rajoana.
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."
At the same time, co-accused Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh, and Lakhwinder Singh were awarded life imprisonment. The verdict was delivered inside the high-security Burail jail in Chandigarh. In total, 15 were convicted.
The assailant was one Dilawar Singh, a police officer, who along with two other officials of the Punjab police, namely, Rajoana and one Lakhwinder Singh, had, allegedly in response to Operation Bluestar and the anti-Sikh pogrom in Delhi in 1984, was tasked with executing the Congress leader, known for his robust counterterrorism policies. Rajoana, a police constable, was not only responsible for ensuring that Singh reached the chief minister after crossing the security ring in the complex but was also equipped with a backup explosive device in case the first plan failed. 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 assassination.
Singh did not file an appeal against the High Court's order. He counsel and refused to defend himself against the charges levelled by the State, in a display of open derision of the Indian judicial system
Thereafter, on March 5, 2012, a death warrant for executing his sentence was issued. 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.
In 2020, Singh filed a writ petition seeking the 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 take a call by April 30 with respect to the mercy petition. In May, the same year, the bench directed that the mercy petition be decided within 2 months irrespective of the appeals pending before the Court.
The Home Ministry had filed an affidavit stating that the mercy petition could not be considered as it had been filed by another organization and not the convict himself. It was also stated the mercy petition cannot be decided until the appeals filed by other convicts in the case before the Supreme Court are not disposed (Rajoana has not challenged his conviction or sentence, either before the High Court or the Supreme Court).
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi before the Court firmly contested the State's claim that Rajoana's sentence had not been commuted yet because of 'security concerns' and the pendency of an appeal filed by a co-accused. He argued:
“To keep a prisoner on death row for so long violates their fundamental rights according to judgements of this court and is a ground for their sentence to be commuted. Rajoana is entitled to be released from death row forthwith. The moment he gets his commutation order, he can apply to be released since he has already spent 27 years behind bars. It is inhuman. Alternatively, if you wish to wait for the government's response to the mercy appeals, then at the very least, grant the petitioner parole. He wants to go to his village, and he will stay there.”
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 a competent authority in due course of time.
Case Details: Balwant Singh v. UOI & Ors, W.P.(Crl.) No. 414/2024
Appearances: Senior Advocate Mukul Rohagti (for Balwant Singh)
