Balwant Singh’s mercy petition delayed

Supreme Court extends April 30 deadline by two months center for decision making mercy petition of balwant singh rajoana, which is pending for the past decade with a heavy price on captive. Balwant Singh was sentenced to death in 1995 for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. A mercy petition was submitted by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) on his behalf in 2012. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, will decide the fate of the petition after receiving a proposal from the Central Government. The backdrop of the political history of the case indicates that the Center may continue to refrain from pursuing the fate of Balwant Singh’s mercy petition by any means. In such a case, there may be a lot of rest for the Supreme Court to take the matter into its own hands and put an end to the pendency in accordance with the death penalty jurisprudence in India.

mitigating circumstances

During his trial, Balwant Singh decided not to defend himself. In his statements, justifying his actions, he said that Beant Singh was targeted as he was responsible for several deaths and disappearances of Sikh men in police custody during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Punjab. The High Court judgment said Balwant Singh expressed regret over the killings of other “innocent persons” killed along with Beant Singh. Nevertheless, he was first sentenced to death by a trial court in 2007, and confirmed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2010. The sentencing by these courts had disregarded the mandate of the Supreme Court. Bachan Singh Vs State of Punjab In contrast to the criterion of life sentence, giving specific reasons before awarding the death sentence, after assessing the aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances, i.e., the circumstances relating to the offense and the life history of the convict, which respectively disturb and mitigate , death qualification of the offender. However, in this case, the discussion on punishment by the two courts was confined to the act of the offense and the expression of remorse. Any mitigating circumstances, including prison conduct, were not recognized and appreciated.

After the date for his execution was fixed on March 31, 2012, political wrangling took center stage. In the uproar from the Sikh community, community institutions swung into action to find ways to stop Balwant Singh’s execution. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government in Punjab expressed its inability to trace an executioner and told that the decision to pardon him would be taken by the central government as the crime took place in the union territory of Chandigarh. SGPC filed mercy petition on behalf of Balwant Singh which is pending for all these years.

request for speedy decision

Balwant Singh has spent 15 years on death row out of the total 27 years of his imprisonment. Over the years, he sent several applications under the Right to Information Act to the offices of the President of India, Central and State Governments, requesting an early decision on mercy petitions filed on his behalf.

While the time spent by a prisoner should be important, it is often overlooked for political reasons. In the case of Balwant Singh, the case of pardoning him by accepting his mercy petition is taking the risk of appearing in support of a terrorist. The politico-religious movement of Punjab of 1980–90, coupled with active insurgency, brought the Sikh community into conflict with widespread nationalist sentiments. The action of Balwant Singh is a part of this context. Therefore, the judgment on the mercy petition is rife with the twin connotation of hurting a minority community, which is the majority and politically powerful in Punjab, or appearing to support a terrorist amid state-run hyper-nationalism, which The majority has been carried forward by politics. of BJP.

The findings of Project 39A report ‘Deathworthy’, a study on the mental health of death row prisoners in India, suggest that different, isolating and stigmatizing experiences of being on death row can result in mental illnesses as well. Huh. Balwant Singh has faced a delay of 10 years in the decision of his mercy petition. In all, he has been imprisoned for 27 years, with serious effects on his physical and mental health. Nevertheless, indecision on the part of the executive is likely to continue, with political considerations dwarfing any legal rule for deciding death penalty cases. In this light, the Supreme Court can proceed and commute the death sentence of Balwant Singh due to undue delay in disposal of mercy petition, torture and violation of his right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

(Baljit Kaur is Mitigation Investigator at Project 39A, National Law University, Delhi. Views expressed are personal)