<p>The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government to inform within two weeks about the status of 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>"It is not denied that the petitioner has himself not filed any appeal against his sentence. Therefore, there is no question of awaiting the outcome of any appeal pending before this court," a bench presided over by Chief Justice S A Bobde said.</p>.<p>The court also pointed out that it is obvious that the factum of the appeals pending 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 bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian was dealing with a writ petition filed by Balwant Singh. He was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi.</p>.<p>The court's query came after Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing on behalf of the Union government, 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 the commemoration of the 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 the death sentence to life imprisonment of one prisoner was to be processed under Article 72 of the Constitution. </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 to the killing of then Punjab CM and 16 others in 1995. His hanging was stayed in 2012 by the then UPA government on the filing of a mercy petition. </p>
<p>The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government to inform within two weeks about the status of 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>"It is not denied that the petitioner has himself not filed any appeal against his sentence. Therefore, there is no question of awaiting the outcome of any appeal pending before this court," a bench presided over by Chief Justice S A Bobde said.</p>.<p>The court also pointed out that it is obvious that the factum of the appeals pending 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 bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian was dealing with a writ petition filed by Balwant Singh. He was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi.</p>.<p>The court's query came after Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing on behalf of the Union government, 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 the commemoration of the 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 the death sentence to life imprisonment of one prisoner was to be processed under Article 72 of the Constitution. </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 to the killing of then Punjab CM and 16 others in 1995. His hanging was stayed in 2012 by the then UPA government on the filing of a mercy petition. </p>
