Overview

• A bench led by Justice Vikram Nath asked the Centre why Balwant Singh Rajoana has not been executed or granted commutation, noting the court never stayed his hanging.
• Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj called the Beant Singh assassination a very serious offence and sought time, citing its gravity and past unrest.
• The bench posted the case for October 15 and said the matter will not be adjourned at the respondents’ instance, telling the government it had to take a call.
• Rajoana’s counsel Mukul Rohatgi highlighted 29 years of incarceration, about 15 on death row, solitary confinement, and possible death row phenomenon affecting his mental state.
• A mercy plea was filed by the SGPC in 2012 and a 2019 Home Ministry proposal to commute the sentence to life was never implemented, with the Centre earlier deferring a decision citing security and law-and-order concerns.