Supreme Court Declines To Commute Death Penalty Of Balwant Singh Rajoana, Allows Centre To Decide Mercy Petition 'When Necessary'

In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to commute the death sentence of Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana to life imprisonment on the ground of the long pendency of the mercy petition before the President of India. The BKI operative was convicted for his role in the assassination of the former chief minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, in August 1995. 

Reading out the operative portion of the judgment, Justice Vikram Nath said :

"The stand of the Ministry of Home Affairs to defer the decision on the Mercy Petition of the petitioner is also a decision for the reasons given thereunder. It actually amounts to a decision declining to grant the same for the present. It is, however, directed that the competent authority, in due course of time, would again as and when it is deemed necessary, may deal with the Mercy Petition, and take a further decision". 

A three-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol was hearing a writ petition seeking for his death sentence to be commuted by the court on the ground of a long delay in considering the mercy petition filed for him. The bench reserved its verdict earlier this year, in March.

The petitioner's lawyer, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, relied on the decision in Sriharan @ Murugan in which the top court had held that a long pendency of a mercy petition could be a ground to commute the death penalty. However, the bench was not swayed by Rohatgi's argument regarding the alleged pendency of Rajoana's mercy petition. It noted that the petitioner himself had never submitted any such petition and the clemency appeal had been filed by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in 2012. Not only this, but after the union government's 2019 announcement, on Guru Nanak Dev's birth anniversary, that it would commute the death sentence of the convict, the process was initiated. While considering the proposal, the government decided to keep the commutation proposal pending till the final disposal of the appeals filed by a co-accused as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation, which would have a bearing on the current proposal and could be a relevant factor to account for while deciding it. Further, after the December 2020 and May 2022 directions passed by the apex court, the matter was again considered by the competent authority, which decided to defer the question of commutation in view of the reasons given in an affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. In view of this series of developments, the bench headed by Justice Gavai held, "It cannot be alleged that there has been an inordinate delay in the disposal of the mercy petition." It also observed:

"The decisions relied upon by Mukul Rohtagi in support of his submission regarding inordinate delay in disposal of the mercy petition and resultantly commutation in such cases having been granted by this court, do not help the petitioner in view of the facts and situation being different in those three cases and in the present case."

Notably, the apex court deferred to the wisdom of the home ministry inasmuch as the feasibility of allowing the mercy petition was concerned. It noted that after its orders to dispose of the petition, the ministry, upon material consideration of various reports from its different branches, came to the conclusion that the consideration may be deferred. This was because the Ministry of Home Affairs gathered that finally deciding on the petition could allegedly compromise the security of the nation or create a law and order situation. The court, however, refused to interfere with the findings and conclusion of the ministry, saying:

"It would not be within the domain of this court to delve upon the decision of the competent authority to defer taking of any decision at present. It is within the domain of the executive to take a call on such sensitive issues. As such this court does not deem it appropriate to issue any further directions."