New Delhi, February 18 The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it would hear a plea filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, seeking commutation of his death sentence to a life term due to the delay in deciding his mercy petition.
Rajoana has been in prison for more than 29 years, of which he has spent over 15 years on death row.
The lawyer representing the Centre, before a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria, said that they would require some time to address the matter.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, referred to the Supreme Court's order dated September 24, 2025, which stated that any further request for adjournment at the instance of the respondents would not be entertained.
"List on March 18," the bench said.
The apex court had earlier asked the Centre to take a decision on Rajoana's mercy petition.
The Centre had then referred to the sensitivity of the matter and said that the mercy petition was under consideration.
In September 2024, the top court sought responses from the Centre, the Punjab government, and the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh on Rajoana's plea.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Singh and 16 others were killed in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. A special court sentenced Rajoana to death in July 2007.
Rajoana's plea sought a direction for his release.
On May 3, 2023, the apex court refused to commute his death sentence and said that the competent authority could deal with his mercy plea.
In his fresh plea, Rajoana highlighted having undergone 28.8 years in jail, of which he has spent over 15 years as a death row convict.
He said that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee submitted a mercy petition under Article 72 in March 2012, seeking clemency on his behalf.
The plea said that over a year had elapsed since the top court directed the competent authority to deal with the mercy petition filed on his behalf and take further decision.
It referred to an April 2023 order of the top court in a separate matter in which the court directed all the states and appropriate authorities to decide the pending mercy petitions at the earliest and without any inordinate delay.
