Balwant Singh Rajoana. File
| Picture Credit score: The Hindu
A Particular Bench of the Supreme Court docket of India on Monday (November 25, 2024) listed loss of life row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana’s mercy plea within the Beant Singh assassination case after 4 weeks following a submission by the Union Authorities that it’s ready for essential inputs within the delicate case.
Rajoana has been in jail for 29 years and on the loss of life row since 2007. For 12 of those years, he was confined in solitary imprisonment. He has argued, by means of his counsel, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, that extended delay in deciding his mercy plea, main a debilitating uncertainty about his loss of life penalty was cruelty and by itself a floor for commutation of his punishment to life sentence.
Final week had seen the Particular Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai initially dictated an order in open court docket, directing the Secretary to the President of India to put Rajoana’s mercy plea earlier than the President with a request to take a name in a fortnight. The Particular Bench recorded on this order that if no choice of the President was forthcoming, the Supreme Court docket would contemplate Rajoana’s plea for interim aid. This order was dictated within the absence of any lawyer representing the Union Authorities in the course of the listening to.
Nonetheless, as quickly because the listening to was over, Solicitor Basic Tushar Mehta had rushed in, apologised for the dearth of illustration, and subsequently managed to persuade the court docket to withdraw its order and easily adjourn the case to November 25.
Mr. Mehta knowledgeable that Rajoana’s mercy plea file was nonetheless with the Residence Ministry and never earlier than the President. He highlighted the truth that the convict had been discovered responsible for the homicide of a former Punjab Chief Minister. The problem was extremely delicate.
On Monday (November 25, 2024), nevertheless, Extra Solicitor Basic Okay.M. Natraj efficiently urged the court docket for time for an additional 4 weeks, saying the Centre was collating additional inputs within the case.
In an earlier listening to, the Centre had mentioned there have been prices of involvement of Khalistani parts within the assassination.
Revealed – November 25, 2024 11:58 am IST
