<p>The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government to decide upon commuting the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict, who is in jail for 25 years, on conviction in the case of assassination of then-Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.</p>.<p>A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked the Centre to take the decision on mercy plea before January 26.</p>.<p>"It is a good date," the bench said, as senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the petitioner pointed out that the mercy plea has been pending for past eight years.</p>.<p>The court put the matter for further consideration on January 25.</p>.<p>53-year-old Rajoana was sentenced to death by a special CBI court in Chandigarh on August 1, 2007 for his involvement in an explosion outside Punjab Civil Secretariat leading the killing of then Punjab CM and 16 others in 1995. His hanging was stayed in 2012 by the then UPA government on filing of a mercy petition.</p>.<p>On December 4, 2020, the court had asked the Centre to inform within two weeks about status in the matter.</p>.<p>The court had then noted the petitioner has himself not filed any appeal against his sentence.</p>.<p>It also said the pendency of the appeals at the behest of other co-accused would have no relevance to the proposal intended to be sent for consideration under Article 72 (power of President to grant pardon, reprieve, respite and remission) of the Constitution.</p>.<p>The Union government had then said that the proposal has not been sent in view of the pending appeals of the co-accused before the top court.</p>.<p>On September 27, 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs, has written to the Chief Secretary of Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Delhi that on the occasion of commemoration of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, special remission and release of prisoners are proposed. </p>.<p>As many as eight Sikh prisoners were to be given special remission under Article 161 of the Constitution and released from prison. However, the proposal for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment of one prisoner was yet to be processed under Article 72 of the Constitution.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government to decide upon commuting the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict, who is in jail for 25 years, on conviction in the case of assassination of then-Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.</p>.<p>A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked the Centre to take the decision on mercy plea before January 26.</p>.<p>"It is a good date," the bench said, as senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the petitioner pointed out that the mercy plea has been pending for past eight years.</p>.<p>The court put the matter for further consideration on January 25.</p>.<p>53-year-old Rajoana was sentenced to death by a special CBI court in Chandigarh on August 1, 2007 for his involvement in an explosion outside Punjab Civil Secretariat leading the killing of then Punjab CM and 16 others in 1995. His hanging was stayed in 2012 by the then UPA government on filing of a mercy petition.</p>.<p>On December 4, 2020, the court had asked the Centre to inform within two weeks about status in the matter.</p>.<p>The court had then noted the petitioner has himself not filed any appeal against his sentence.</p>.<p>It also said the pendency of the appeals at the behest of other co-accused would have no relevance to the proposal intended to be sent for consideration under Article 72 (power of President to grant pardon, reprieve, respite and remission) of the Constitution.</p>.<p>The Union government had then said that the proposal has not been sent in view of the pending appeals of the co-accused before the top court.</p>.<p>On September 27, 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs, has written to the Chief Secretary of Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Delhi that on the occasion of commemoration of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, special remission and release of prisoners are proposed. </p>.<p>As many as eight Sikh prisoners were to be given special remission under Article 161 of the Constitution and released from prison. However, the proposal for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment of one prisoner was yet to be processed under Article 72 of the Constitution.</p>
