SC grants Centre till March 18 to decide on Rajoana's mercy plea

The Supreme Court on Monday gave a "last chance" to the Centre to decide by March 18 on the long-pending mercy plea of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

- Abraham Thomas

NEW DELHI:

If no decision is taken by the next date, the court said it will decide the case on merit.

Rajoana has been in prison for 29 years, of which 15 years have been spent on death row following his conviction in 2007. He has claimed that the Union home ministry took a decision to commute his death sentence to life in 2019, but the Centre has maintained that the issue is "sensitive" and requires extensive consultation with several agencies. A bench headed by justice Bhushan R Gavai, which granted four weeks to the Centre on November 25 last year, on Monday said: "We will grant you time by way of last chance. Either you take a decision or we will hear the matter on merits."

Posting the matter on March 18, the bench, also comprising justices PK Mishra and KV Viswanathan added: "We will hear on merits on March 18. By then, if you can decide, well and good. It will facilitate us."

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, said that the court should consider releasing the petitioner from jail and allow him to reintegrate into society as the Centre does not seem to be keen to decide on the mercy petition.