Beant Singh assasin’s mercy plea: Centre calls matter “sensitive”, SC rebuffs, says makes no difference

Power to decide on mercy petitions comes with a duty, the Supreme Court told the Centre which had failed to take a decision on the mercy plea of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassin claiming it to be a “sensitive” matter.

Posting the matter to Wednesday, a bench of justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol said, “Sensitive or not sensitive does not make a difference to us. Every power is coupled with a duty. Tell us within how much time you (Centre) will decide.”

The Court was hearing a petition filed by death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana who approached the Court in 2020 to know the fate of a September 2019 communication issued by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) that decided to commute his death sentence to life term on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

The Court had on several occasions asked the Centre to proceed with the mercy petition seeking clemency for Rajoana which has been pending with the Centre since March 2012. The mercy pleas were filed by Sikh organisations and not by Rajoana.

Advocate Piyush Beriwal representing Centre sought an adjournment for Wednesday claiming that additional solicitor general (ASG) KM Nataraj will be representing the government in the matter. When the bench wished to know why no decision was taken yet, he answered that he did not intend to say anything as it is a “very sensitive matter”.

Advocate Rupesh Kumar appearing for Rajoana told the Court that the Centre has been taking time on several occasions and has flouted past orders of this Court requiring the decision to be taken within a specified time.

Rajoana, a former Punjab Police constable, was convicted for his involvement in an explosion outside Punjab civil secretariat that killed Beant Singh and 16 others on August 31, 1995. A special court had in July 2007 awarded the death sentence to him in the case. His death penalty was upheld by Punjab and Haryana high court in October 2010.

Rajoana has not challenged his conviction either before the high court or Supreme Court. However, an appeal has been filed by a co-accused in the same case, Jagtar Singh Hawara in the top court. The Centre had initially taken a stand that a decision on Rajoana’s mercy plea was put on hold to await the outcome of Hawara’s appeal. Later, an objection was taken about the mercy plea being filed by an organisation and not by the convict.

In May 2022, the top court directed the Centre to consider the matter in two months without being influenced by the co-accused’s appeal. While the two months have elapsed long ago, the matter came up for hearing on multiple occasions but the Centre either took time or the matter got adjourned. The pendency of clemency plea alone has exceeded ten years and Rajoana had claimed that inordinate delay to decide on mercy plea has been held by the top court to be a ground to commute death sentence to life term.