The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Central government to decide on the mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, sentenced to death for the assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, preferably within two months.
A three-judge Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit asked the Centre to decide the mercy plea without being influenced by the fact that the appeals of the other convicts in the case were still pending.
Rajoana has been in jail for over 25 years. The mercy petition was filed in 2012. The plea for Presidential mercy has been been in limbo despite the government having decided over a year ago, in 2019, to spare his life in commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
