Supreme Court asks President to decide on Balwant Singh Rajoana mercy petition in two weeks

The Supreme Court on Monday urged the President of India to decide within two weeks the mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has been on death row for the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh [Balwant Singh v. Union of India and ors]..A Bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan expressed dissatisfaction with the Central government for failing to provide a response in the matter."In spite of the matter being specifically kept today, none appeared for Union of India. The Bench assembled only for this case. On the last date, the matter was adjourned to enable the Union to take instructions from the office of the President as to when will mercy plea be decided," the Court observed..Today, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocates Diksha Rai Goswami and Atiga Singh appeared for Rajoana.Rohatgi highlighted the inordinate delay in deciding the mercy petition, which has been pending since 2012."There is an example of the same batch of cases. Government says it is not the right time to decide this. When then? After his life is over? This is not a case of national security," he added..Considering that Rajoana was on death row, the Court directed the Secretary to the President of India to present the matter to her with a request for consideration within two weeks from today..The Bench had in September this year issued notice on the plea by the death-row prisoner over the delay in deciding on his mercy petition..The Court had in May last year refused to commute the death penalty handed down to Rajoana, and instead left it to the Central government's competent authority to deal with the mercy petition.Rajoana has been in jail for over 28 years, and has now sought release from jail in view of the inordinate delay in disposing of his plea for Presidential mercy.The same has been pending despite the government having decided in 2019 to spare his life in commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji..In 2022, the top court had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Central government to immediately take a call in the matter.Pertinently, at the time, the Court had even warned that the concerned Secretary and the CBI Director (Prosecution) would have to remain personally present in future hearings if they failed to make their decision soon. During those hearings, the top court had orally observed that the continuing failure of the Centre to decide on the issue appeared to be contemptuous..Update: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter just before the Bench rose for lunch today. The Court agreed that the order passed today will not be published on its website. The matter will be considered again on November 25.