SGPC delegation meets Rajoana in jail

A Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) delegation led by its president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Friday met death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana at the Central Jail here.

Rajoana was convicted in the 1995 assassination case of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

Dhami slammed the Centre for its continued delay in deciding on the mercy petition of Rajoana filed in 2012.

The petition seeks commutation of Rajoana’s death sentence to life imprisonment.

“The Union Government is not only violating the Supreme Court directions but also infringing upon basic human rights,” Dhami said.

Dhami said Rajoana handed him over a letter, which was yet to be read by him.

He also said the SGPC would soon convene a meeting to finalise its future strategy against what he termed the Centre’s “dilly-dallying attitude” in the case.

According to Dhami, Rajoana expressed disappointment over the delay in deciding on his mercy petition and stressed the need to build public pressure to expose the central government’s inaction.

“He has even urged the SGPC to withdraw the petition concerning him and push for an immediate decision, saying he no longer sees any difference between life and death,” Dhami said.

Earlier this year, a Special Bench of the Supreme Court had directed the Union Government to make a final call on Rajoana’s mercy plea, stating that it would otherwise decide the matter on its own merits.

Punjab