Punjab and Haryana High Court granted parole for three hours to death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, imprisoned for his involvement in the 1995 assassination of Punjab’s former Chief Minister Beant Singh, to attend the last rites (antim ardas) of his brother Kulwant Singh Rajoana.

 

Recently the 57-year-old Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana moved the Supreme Court seeking commutation of the death sentence on the grounds of "extraordinary" delay of 1 year and 4 months in deciding his mercy petition, which is still pending before the President.














Rajoana was linked to the Babbar Khalsa, a militant Sikh separatist group responsible for violent activities during the insurgency in Punjab. He is convicted in the 1995 assassination case of the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. The court was informed that Rajoana has been in custody without break for 29 years by his lawyer.


Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Rajoana termed the delay in deciding the mercy petition by President as "shocking". He pressed for an interim relief, saying that he has been in the jail for 29 years and the court should atleast allow him outside for atleast 3-6 months. However, the court had denied any such interim relief.


Rajoana has been on death row for nearly 15 years, and yet his mercy plea has not been disposed while others have been commuted to life imprisonment in this case by the Supreme Court.


This is not the first time Rajoana has moved the top court. His previous plea was disposed of in May 2023 by the bench saying that concerned authorities will take action on the mercy plea in due course. The top cour will again hear the plea on November 27.