Rajoana writes to PM, seeks urgent decision on mercy plea

Balwant Singh Rajoana has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him that the Centre should take an immediate decision on his mercy petition, which has been pending for the last 15 years

Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death-row convict in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him that the Centre should take an immediate decision on his mercy petition, which has been pending for the last 15 years.

In his letter, Rajoana, who is lodged in Patiala Central Jail, said he had spent 31 years in prison, including the last 20 years facing the prospect of execution while waiting for a final decision on his case.

In his letter, Rajoana, who is lodged in Patiala Central Jail, said he had spent 31 years in prison, including the last 20 years facing the prospect of execution while waiting for a final decision on his case.

He said he had never concealed his actions before the court and had willingly accepted the death sentence.

Rajoana said that after a death warrant was issued against him in 2012, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) filed a mercy petition before the president on his behalf.

Appealing to the prime minister to end the prolonged uncertainty surrounding his case, Rajoana said if the government wished to execute him, it could proceed accordingly, but stressed that the matter should no longer be kept pending.

Beant Singh, the then chief minister of Punjab and 16 others were killed in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. A special court sentenced Rajoana to death in July 2007.

A mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution was moved by the SGPC in March 2012.