Overview

• During the hearing, the bench asked the Centre why Balwant Singh Rajoana has not been executed, noting the court never stayed his execution.
• A three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria posted the matter for October 15 and said it will not grant further adjournments.
• The government maintained the offence was grave and has previously cited potential national security and law-and-order risks to defer a decision on clemency.
• Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued for commutation, citing 29 years in custody, roughly 15 on death row, periods of solitary confinement, and concerns over the death-row phenomenon.
• A mercy petition was filed by the SGPC in 2012, and a 2019 Home Ministry move to commute his sentence was not implemented, with the Supreme Court in 2023 leaving the clemency decision to the executive.