SC declined to commute the death penalty for Beant Singh murderer

New Delhi, May 03: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to commute the death penalty of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, to life imprisonment. Rajoana was sentenced to death in July 2007 for his involvement in Beant Singh's assassination. He has been in jail for the past 26 years.

 

 

 

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol said the competent authority will decide the plea of the convict seeking mercy.

 

 

 

The top court had reserved its verdict on Rajoana's plea on March 2 after hearing the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the convict, and Additional Solicitor General K M Natraj. Rajaona was given the death penalty in 2007 by a CBI court for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995. However, his execution was stayed after an MHA decision in 2012, following appeals by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

 

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Rajaona, who was a police constable prior to the terror attack, had moved a plea before the Supreme Court in 2020, claiming that a decision to commute his death penalty had been announced in the media in 2019 by the Center as part of the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak, but he had not been granted any relief. The Home Minister had made a statement in Parliament at the time, explaining that no such decision to commute Rajaona's sentence had been taken.