New Delhi [India], September 28 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Central government for not taking any decision so far on the mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was awarded the death sentence for the assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995.

New Delhi [India], May 2 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to decide within two months mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was awarded the death sentence for the assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995.

New Delhi Apr 20 PTI A day after his party colleague urged the government not to release the convict in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh assassination case Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday said his death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment Balwant Singh Rajoana has been in prison for 26 years and it is time to commute his punishment and be released under Section 432 CrPC power to suspend or remit sentences the former union minister said Release him from prison invoking Section 432 of CrPC Criminal jurisprudence of incarceration needs to be grounded in reformation and not retribution Tewari tweeted On Tuesday Congress MP and Beant Singhs grandson Ravneet Singh Bittu had raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue of Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal seeking expeditious release of Rajoana and said that granting clemency to him would send a very wrong message and embolden the countrys enemies Being a Terror Victim I understand anguish of my colleague RavneetBittu but as a Lawyer MP from Punjab it is my considered view-SBalwant Singh Rajoana having served 26 years in Prison his death sentence be commuted to life he be released by passing orders under Sec 432 CRPC Tewari said in another tweet Earlier Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal had demanded that Rajoana who has been on death row since 2007 be released on compassionate grounds Badal had also urged the prime minister to intervene in the matter to ensure his release For some time now political parties in Punjab have been debating the release of Rajoana PTI SKC CJ CJ

Chandigarh Apr 18 PTI SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday sought the prime ministers intervention for the release of Balwant Singh Rajoana a convict in the assassination case of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh Rajoana was sentenced to death for his involvement in an explosion outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat here that killed Beant Singh and 16 others on August 31 1995 Badal said Rajoana has been in the jail for the past 26 years a period more than the effective equivalent of a life sentence Badal also urged PM Narendra Modi to release other Sikh prisoners who have served more than the effective equivalent of a life sentence The Union government had approved the commutation of Bhai Rajoanas death sentence to life imprisonment as a humanitarian gesture in 2019 on the eve of 550th Prakash Purb of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji Badal said in a letter to the prime minister dated April 18 Badal said the issue warranted the urgent attention of the prime minister since a clemency petition under Article 72 of the Constitution of India which was filed by the SGPC in March 25 2012 is still pending with the President The article deals with the power of the President to grant pardon suspend remit or commute sentences in certain cases He said the Supreme Court had also issued a notice to the Union government to take a call on the mercy petition of Rajoana by April 30 In his letter Badal pointed out that SAD had submitted its resolution to the Union government to request for commuting of Rajoanas death sentence to life term and later for his release The SGPC apex religious body of the Sikhs has also submitted representations calling for the release of all such Sikh prisoners he said Badal also conveyed that Sikhs worldwide desired that Bhai Rajoana be released and they were looking up to the prime minister to ensure the promise made to the community on the eve of the 550th Parkash Purb celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji was fulfilled The SAD president also made a similar plea to Union Home Minister Amit Shah PTI SUN VSD RDK

New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): The Supreme Court has directed the Central government to immediately take a decision on granting pardon to Balwant Singh Rajoana, awarded death sentence for the assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995, and asked it to file an action taken report on the decision.

Amritsar Sep 21 PTI The SGPC on Tuesday urged the Centre to take an early decision on the mercy plea of Balwant Singh Rajoana who was awarded the death penalty in the former Punjab chief minister Beant Singhs assassination case Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur said Rajoanas sister Kamaldeep Kaur met her and asked her to approach the Centre in this matter Rajoana a former Punjab Police constable was convicted for his involvement in an explosion outside the Punjab civil secretariat that killed Congress leader Beant Singh and 16 others in 1995 The Centre in February this year had told the Supreme Court that President Ram Nath Kovind was seized of the matter pertaining to Rajoanas plea seeking commutation of the death penalty awarded to him in Beant Singhs assassination case and a decision would be taken on it The SGPC chief assured Kamaldeep Kaur that she would write a letter to the Union Home Ministry in this regard She appealed to the Centre to take an early decision in the matter of Rajoanas mercy plea SGPC is the apex religious body of the SikhsPTI JMS CHS VSD RT RT