NEW DELHI: The Center said Friday to the Supreme Court that the Khalistani terrorist groups’ past ties to Balwant Singh Rajoana, given death penalty In 2007, for his role in the assassination of the then Prime Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, in 1995, he prevented the prevailing circumstances in the country from prompting a decision on clemency petitions filed on his behalf.
Hinting at the controversy over alleged comments in certain quarters about Canada-based Khalistan supporters providing financial aid and instigating protest farmers camping at the border points of Delhi, Attorney General Tushar Mehta He said: “Let’s not forget that he was sentenced to death for the murder of an acting Chief Minister of Punjab over the Khalistan issue. The president has started the consideration process and a decision will be made on the clemency allegations presented by others on behalf of Rajoana. But the current circumstances are not conducive to a decision on pleas for clemency. ”
A bench of the Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian had expired on January 8 the Union government to decide the pleas for mercy before January 26, saying: “It is a good day to make the decision.” On January 25, the court had told the SG that the Center was being given one last chance of two weeks to make a decision.
The court understood the government’s situation, especially after the violence of a section of protesting farmers who had been camping for months on the Delhi borders with accusations that pro-Khalistan groups based in Canada were financing and instigating the protesters.
CJI Bobde asked Mehta if he could indicate a time frame within which the president would make a decision on pleas for clemency. The attorney general said: “The government cannot give a term for the president. But in the given circumstances, please postpone the hearing for six weeks. ”
Rajoana’s advice Mukul rohatgi protested loudly and said that his client had been in jail for almost 25 years and had lived under the shadow of the death penalty for 14 years, which in itself was sufficient punishment for Rajoana to be released from the prison. jail. But the bank gave the Center six more weeks to decide the pleas for clemency.
In 2012, fourteen petitions were presented to the president asking for mercy for Rajoana. The petitioners then included Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Four, including the Youth Federation Rajiv Gandhi and Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena, had petitioned the president to oppose the granting of mercy to Rajoana.
Rajoana had not appealed against the decision of Punjab and Haryana HC that upheld his conviction and sentence in 2010. However, he moved to the SC requesting commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment saying that he had been in prison for the past 25 years and He had lived in the shadow of death since 2007, when the trial court found him guilty and convicted.
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