The Supreme Court has issued an interim order on the petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict involved in the assassination of Punjab’s former Chief Minister Beant Singh. The petition seeks the commutation of Rajoana’s death sentence to life imprisonment. In its order, the Court directed the Secretary to the President of India to consider Rajoana’s long-pending mercy petition within two weeks.
A special bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai emphasized that if the mercy petition is not considered within the specified two-week period, the Court would consider granting interim relief to Rajoana. This directive came after a prolonged legal battle, with Rajoana’s petition for mercy having been pending for over 12 years. Rajoana, who has already spent 29 years in jail, has argued that his case warrants the commutation of his death sentence due to the long delay in the consideration of his mercy petition.
The next hearing of the case is scheduled for December 5 at 10:30 AM, when the Supreme Court will further examine the case and decide on the course of action.
