Slain Punjab CM's kin to move Supreme Court

The family of slain Punjab chief minister Beant Singh will challenge the commutation of terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana's death sentence in the Supreme Court.

Confirming this, Punjab MLA and the slain leader's grandson Gurkirat Kotli here on Tuesday told PTI, "We are taking a legal opinion on that. Most probably, we will challenge the centre's decision on the ground that Rajoana himself had never moved any mercy petition for the commutation of his death sentence."

The Union Home Ministry on Saturday had decided to commute the death sentence of Rajoana as a humanitarian gesture ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Rajoana was convicted for the assassination of Beant Singh on August 31, 1995.