Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court today (September 24) heard the petition filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, Babbar Khalsa terrorist, seeking commutation of the death sentence awarded to him in the Punjab CM Beant Singh assassination case. He is seeking commutation on the grounds of the delay in considering the mercy petition pending before the President of India since 2012.

Singh, a police officer in Punjab, was convicted on July 27, 2007 by a special Central Bureau of Investigation Court, under Sections 120-B, 302, 307 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3(b), 4(b) and 5(b) r/w 6 of the Explosives Substances Act, 1908 for an incident involving a deadly suicide bombing at the Chandigarh secretariat complex on August 31, 1995, wherein the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh along with 16 others, lost their lives.

Appearing for Singh, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, submitted before a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria that Rajoana has been incarcerated for more than 29 years.

"This man has been on death row for 15 years. So, when I came to your lordship in the earlier petition, your lordship said no, he has not moved the mercy petition. The Gurudwara Committee has moved..With great respect, this is contrary to the provisions. The provisions say it does not matter who moves; it should be considered. It is a matter of Article 21 and 433 [CrPC]. Your lordship finally said, so much time has gone by, they should decide it sometime. This was said two and a half years ago," Rohatgi added.

Rohatgi remarked that nothing happened in that happen and therefore, he filed another one in 2024. In the last order passed in this petition, in January, a special bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan had given one last opportunity for the Union to decide his mercy petition. It was stated by the Court that if the Union fails to do so, the plea will be finally decided by the Court.

Today, Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the Union, requested time to file the present status report.

Rohatgi responded that this writ has been petition for the past 8 months. He said: "He is sometimes in solitary confinement, I don't know if he is in his senses or not. One does not know what is going on."

He referred to the Bhullar's case in which the Court had commuted the death penalty of the 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict due to the delay of eight years in disposing of his mercy petition and his mental illness. "In Bhullar's case, he was sentenced to death, and the petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court. In curative, the Bhullar's case was commuted to life, and today, Bhullar is out. I don't know if I will be out but if this death has to gone, commutation must happen and if commutation happens, we are bound to be out today after 30 years."

Justice Mehta responded that, as per the Rajasthan Jail Rules, if a person has committed terror-related offences, they are not eligible for parole considering the serious nature of offence. He said: "I don't know about the Punjab rules, but in Rajasthan, you would not be out because these are exceptions under the prison rules."

Justice Nath inquired how Bhullar had been released from jail. Reportedly, Bhullar's application for premature release has been rejected by the Delhi Government many times, the latest in January last year.

Rohatgi clarified that his application was commuted years ago, and he is bound to be out anytime soon. But all he is asking in Rajaona's case is not to leave him on death row. He said: "Your lordship has said repeatedly, leaving it on death row for more than two years or three years, is sufficient to invoke Article 21. I was convicted in 2007."

Rohatgi also pointed out that a review has been filed in regards to the earlier petition filed by Rajaona alleging inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition. On May 3, 2023, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice BR Gavai (now CJI) disposed of that plea saying that the "competent authority" may deal with the mercy petition. The present petition was subsequently filed in 2024 based on a fresh mercy petition.

Rohatgi remarked that the Union keeps referring to the security of the nation as the reason for not deciding the case and questioned how one person's release would impact the security of the nation. ASG responded that this is a serious issue because it led to riots and deeply impacted the law and order situation. On this, Justice Mehta asked: "Question is why did you not hang him till now? Who is to be blamed for that? At least we would not have stayed his execution."

The Court will hear the matter on October 15, and clarified that the matter will not be adjourned at the account of the Respondent.

Detailed background

Out of 15 accused persons named in the FIR, Balwant Singh Rajoana along with 08 others, were put to trial and convicted for the aforesaid offences. In contrast, others were sentenced to life imprisonment. Along with Rajoana, co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, who was reportedly the mastermind behind the operation, was also sentenced to death

At the same time, co-accused Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh, and Lakhwinder Singh were awarded life imprisonment. The verdict was delivered inside the high-security Burail jail in Chandigarh. In total, 15 were convicted.

The assailant was one Dilawar Singh, a police officer, who along with two other officials of the Punjab police, namely, Rajoana and one Lakhwinder Singh, had, allegedly in response to Operation Bluestar and the anti-Sikh pogrom in Delhi in 1984, was tasked with executing the Congress leader, known for his robust counterterrorism policies. Rajoana, a police constable, was not only responsible for ensuring that Singh reached the chief minister after crossing the security ring in the complex but was also equipped with a backup explosive device in case the first plan failed. Separatist group Babbar Khalsa International, whose primary goal is to establish a sovereign homeland called Khalistan for people of their faith, took responsibility for the assassination.

The Punjab & Haryana Court confirmed Rajoana's conviction on October 12, 2010. However, while confirming the conviction of a co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara, the High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.

Singh did not file an appeal against the High Court's order. He refused to defend himself against the charges levelled by the State, in a display of open derision of the Indian judicial system. Thereafter, on March 5, 2012, a death warrant for executing his sentence was issued. However, on March 25, the same year, the SGPC preferred a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution of India seeking clemency on Singh's behalf. Subsequently, the mercy petition was processed for consideration in the Home Ministry, and a stay against its execution was intimated to the state authorities on March 28, 2012.

The petitioner claimed that the Union government had announced in 2019 that it would commute Rajoana's death sentence to life imprisonment, besides sanctioning the premature release of eight Sikh prisoners serving life and other sentences as a humanitarian gesture to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. However, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah later informed the Lok Sabha that Rajoana had not been freed from death row.

In 2020, Singh filed a writ petition seeking the commutation of the death penalty. On March 24, 2022, a bench of Justices UU Lalit, SR Bhat and PS Narasimha directed the Central Government to take a call by April 30, 2022 with respect to the mercy petition. In May, the same year, the bench directed that the mercy petition be decided within 2 months irrespective of the appeals pending before the Court.

The Home Ministry had filed an affidavit stating that the mercy petition could not be considered as it had been filed by another organization and not the convict himself. It was also stated the mercy petition cannot be decided until the appeals filed by other convicts in the case before the Supreme Court are not disposed (Rajoana has not challenged his conviction or sentence, either before the High Court or the Supreme Court).

Case Details: Balwant Singh v. UOI & Ors, W.P.(Crl.) No. 414/2024