SC seeks Govt's stand on assassin of former Punjab CM

Balwant Singh Rajona, convicted of assassinating former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh has been in jail for 25 years without appealing against his sentence.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday granted two weeks to the Central government for its response on commuting the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajona, convicted of assassinating former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

The bench led by the Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde observed that in a letter dated September 2019, the Home Ministry had written to the Punjab government to release some prisoners on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji. However, the proposal of the convict's released wasn't forwarded as his appeal sent to the President was pending.

The CJI said that the convict did not file any appeal so there is no question of it pending and appeals by co-accused will have no relevance in Rajoana's case.

Additional Solicitor General sought time from the court to inform it about when the proposal will be sent to the President again for which the court granted him two weeks.

Rajona has been languishing in jail since the past 25 years and did not file any appeal. But others on his behalf had filed mercy plea a number of times.