The Supreme Court on Monday directed President
Droupadi Murmu's secretary to place before her the mercy petition of death row
convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then
Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, for consideration.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V
Viswanathan requested the President to consider the plea within two weeks.
"Inspite of the matter being specifically kept
today none appeared for Union of India. The bench assembled only for this
case," the bench said.
"On the last date the matter was adjourned to
enable the Union to take instructions from the office of the President as to by
when will mercy plea be decided. Taking into consideration that the petitioner
is on a death row, we direct the secretary to the President of India to place
the matter before the President with a request to consider the same within two
weeks from today," the bench said.
The matter will now be heard on
December 5.
On September 25, the top court had sought responses
from the Centre, the Punjab government and the administration of the Union
Territory of Chandigarh on Rajoana's plea.
The then Punjab chief minister 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 has said that a mercy petition under Article
72 of the Constitution was moved by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
(SGPC) on his behalf in March 2012.
On May 3 last year, the apex court had refused to
commute his death sentence and said the competent authority could deal with his
mercy plea.