The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday pulled up the Union Government for its failure to respond to a petition filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. A three-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath expressed strong dissatisfaction over the continued delay, granting the Centre a final “two-week” window to file its counter-affidavit.
Rajoana, who has been incarcerated for over 29 years—including 15 years on death row—is seeking the commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment. His plea is primarily grounded on the “inordinate delay” by the executive in deciding his mercy petition, which has remained pending for more than a decade.
During the proceedings, the bench, which also included Justices Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi, questioned the Centre’s silence on the matter.
“Why have you not filed your counter-affidavit so far?” the bench asked. When the counsel representing the Centre suggested they wished to submit certain documents in a “sealed cover,” the court remained firm.
“You file your counter-affidavit otherwise his (Rajoana’s) allegations are uncontroverted,” the bench remarked, emphasizing that the government must place its official stance on record. The court explicitly stated that no further requests for time would be entertained.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Rajoana, highlighted that the mercy petition filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on his client’s behalf has been pending since March 2012.
Rohatgi reminded the court that as recently as May 3, 2023, the apex court had observed that the competent authority should take a call on the mercy plea. Despite a subsequent order on September 24, 2024, warning against further adjournments, the matter has seen little progress from the government’s side.
Rajoana’s fresh plea filed in 2024 underscores the toll of his prolonged incarceration. He has spent 28.8 years in jail, a duration his counsel argues warrants clemency under Article 72 of the Constitution, citing previous Supreme Court precedents that mandate the timely disposal of mercy petitions.
The case traces back to August 31, 1995, when a powerful blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh claimed the lives of then-Chief Minister Beant Singh and 16 others. Rajoana was sentenced to death by a special court in July 2007.
While the Centre had previously cited the “sensitivity” of the matter as the reason for the delay, the Supreme Court’s latest stance signals that the executive cannot indefinitely postpone a decision on a convict’s life and liberty.
The matter is set to be heard again in two weeks, by which time the Centre must formally respond to why Rajoana’s death sentence should not be commuted due to the state’s inaction.
