Rajoana’s mercy plea decision will affect nation’s security: Govt to SC

On Tuesday, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Rajoana, said that he does not want to wait for the Centre to decide the mercy petitions filed for his client and would rather want to argue the case on merits.

Any decision on commuting the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana in the former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassination case may affect the security of the nation or create a law-and-order situation, the Union government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday while opting to delay the determination of Rajoana’s mercy plea indefinitely.

Balwant Singh Rajoana, a Babbar Khalsa terrorist was the second human bomb in case the first one would have failed in killing the Congress leader. (HT Photo)

Submitting its affidavit before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit, the Union ministry of home affairs stated that Punjab being a border state, any decision on the mercy petitions filed on behalf of Rajoana has to be taken keeping in view the overall security scenario and terrorism perspective of the state.

“Based on the inputs of the agencies and keeping in mind the security scenario the competent authority in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to defer taking any decision on the mercy petition/s filed on behalf of Balwant Singh Rajoana for consideration of the Hon’ble President of India, as it has a serious potential of compromising the security of the nation or creating a law-and-order situation,” underlined a three-page affidavit.

The affidavit by the MHA was filed following a court order on September 28 when the bench, which also included Justice S Ravindra Bhat, directed the Union government to bring on record the progress made in deciding over the mercy plea for Rajoana, who is on death row since 2007.

On Tuesday, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Rajoana, said that he does not want to wait for the Centre to decide the mercy petitions filed for his client and would rather want to argue the case on merits.

“I want to argue my case that I have been in jail for 26 years and I am entitled to commutation under Article 21 (right to life, liberty and live with dignity). I have been in jail since January 1996. My mercy petition was filed in 2012. I have been on death row since 2007. It has been 15 years now. The law is crystal care that under any legal system, I am entitled to a release,” added Rohatgi.

The senior counsel emphasised that he does not want to beg the Centre for mercy and would convince the bench that Rajoana is qualified for a commutation as well as release on account of the immense mental trauma his client has undergone for being on the death row since 2007.

At this point, the bench suggested that it could take up Rajoana’s writ petition along with the appeal filed by co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara in the assassination case but Rohatgi opposed it. “I chose not to file an appeal against the trial court judgment of 2007. Where is the question of my case being linked with someone who went in appeal to the high court and then came here? I don’t want my case to be clubbed with anyone,” he contended.

Accepting Rohatgi’s submissions, the bench fixed the matter for November 1 to hear Rajoana’s petition on merits.

A special court had in July 2007 had awarded death sentence to Rajoana, along with Hawara, in the assassination case. Rajoana, a Babbar Khalsa terrorist was the second human bomb in case the first one would have failed in killing the Congress leader. Rajoana was scheduled to be hanged on March 31, 2012.

However, the execution was stayed on March 28, 2012, by the then UPA government at the Centre after the Sikh religious body Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC), filed a mercy petition. The Shiromani Akali Dal, which was then in power in Punjab, had campaigned against his execution.

The President in 2012 had forwarded the mercy plea to the MHA to take a call on it. Since then, the petition has been pending with the MHA.

Rajoana, through advocate Rupesh Kumar, had filed a petition in the top court in 2020 relying on a communication issued by the MHA in September 2019 where a decision was taken by the Centre to commute his death sentence to life term, coinciding with the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Responding to it, the Centre told the bench in December 2020 that the papers regarding the commutation were yet to be processed and placed before the President, who is the final authority in the matter. It also argued that the September 2019 decision by MHA will not confer any right on the petitioner since it was not a final decision, adding the mercy plea was not filed by Rajoana but by the SGPC on his behalf. It further stated that any decision on his clemency must await the outcome of the appeal filed by his co-accused Hawara.