File picture of Balwant Singh Rajoana
| Photo Credit: PTI

A Special Bench of the Supreme Court on Monday (January 20, 2025) listed death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana’s mercy plea in the Beant Singh assassination case on March 18, urging the Union government to either take a call or it will go ahead and decide the petition on merits.

Appearing for a Special Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for Rajoana, asked the court for some interim relief.

Rajoana has been in prison for 29 years and on death row since 2007. For 12 of these years, he was confined in solitary imprisonment.

Mr. Rohatgi said prolonged delay in deciding his mercy plea, leading to a debilitating uncertainty about his death penalty was cruelty and by itself a ground for commutation of his punishment to life sentence. Mr. Rohatgi said “he has to be brought back into society”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said “the bringing back into society” part was exactly the problem.

Mr. Mehta said the government has to take a considered decision on the mercy plea.

Mr. Rohatgi said the government has been contemplating for the past five years while Mr. Mehta retorted that the senior counsel ought not to exaggerate.

In November last year, Mr. Mehta had informed that Rajoana’s mercy plea file was with the Home Ministry, and not before the President. He had highlighted the fact that the convict had been found guilty of the murder of a former Punjab Chief Minister. The issue was highly sensitive.

In an earlier hearing, the Centre had said there were charges of involvement of Khalistani elements in the assassination.