Blitz Bureau
THE Supreme Court has granted the Centre four weeks more to decide the mercy petition filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in the 1995 assassination case of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and others.
A Special Bench headed by Justice BR Gavai on November 25 agreed to defer the hearing for four weeks after Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta submitted that more inputs from agencies were needed, considering the “sensitivities” involved in the matter. Earlier on November 18, the Bench, also comprising Justices PK Mishra and KV Viswanathan, had requested President Murmu to consider within two weeks the mercy petition filed on behalf of Balwant Singh Rajoana.
It had asked the Secretary to the President of India to place before President Murmu the mercy petition filed by Rajoana, clarifying that if Rajoana’s mercy petition is not decided within two weeks, it will proceed to consider his application for interim release.
Within hours, the Supreme Court agreed to not upload its order after SG Mehta made an urgent mentioning before the Justice Gavai-led Bench. The law officer had requested that the order passed in his absence may not be signed and uploaded considering the sensitivities involved. Mehta added that the batch of files pertaining to Rajoana’s mercy petition remained with the Union Home Ministry and not the President’s Secretariat.
The apex court was hearing a writ petition filed by Rajoana challenging an over 12-year-long delay in deciding the mercy petition seeking commutation of his death penalty. In May 2023, the Supreme Court had turned down Rajoana’s plea seeking commutation of his death penalty and had said, “It is within the domain of the Executive to take a call on such sensitive issues.”
