New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The Supreme Court Wednesday declined to commute the death penalty of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, to life imprisonment, saying "it's within the domain of the executive to take a call on such sensitive issues".

The court said the competent authority may deal with Rajoana's mercy plea.

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Rajoana has been in jail for the past 26 years.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, argued that since the state and the Union of India have not been able to decide on the mercy petition which is pending for more than 10 years, the death penalty should be commuted to life imprisonment.

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A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol refused to accept Rohatgi's submission, saying the mercy petition of the year 2012 was filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

"The stand of the Ministry of Home Affairs to defer the decision on the mercy petition is also a decision for the reasons given thereunder. It actually amounts to a decision declining to grant the same for the present.

"It is, however, directed that the competent authority, in due course of time, would again as and when it is deemed necessary, may deal with the mercy petition, and take a further decision," the bench said.

The top court said the MHA, upon material consideration of various reports from its different branches, has concluded that the consideration may be deferred as it could have an impact on the security of the nation or law-and-order situation.

"It would not be within the domain of this court to delve upon the decision of the competent authority to defer taking any decision at present. It is within the domain of the executive to take a call on such sensitive issues. As such this court does not deem it appropriate to issue any further directions," the bench said.

On March 2, the top court reserved its verdict on the plea of Rajoana after hearing the submissions of Rohatgi and Additional Solicitor General K M Natraj.

Earlier, Rajoana's counsel had said that keeping him on death row while sitting over his mercy plea for such a long period violated his fundamental right.

His mercy plea has been pending before the government for over a decade.

On October 11 last year, the top court had said that a three-judge bench would be set up to hear Rajoana's plea.

Rohatgi had said that his client was in jail for 26 years and has a substantive case based on the judgements of the apex court that his right to protection of life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution has been violated.

On September 28 last year, the top court expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre's failure to decide on Rajoana's plea for commuting his death penalty to life imprisonment.

Rajoana has been in jail since January 1996 and his mercy petition was filed in March 2012. Rohatgi said his client has been on death row since 2007.

The top court had asked the Centre on May 2 last year to decide within two months on the commutation plea filed on behalf of Rajoana. It had also questioned the Centre over the delay in sending Rajoana's mercy petition to the President.

It had asked the government to apprise it as to when the authorities concerned would send the proposal to the President under Article 72 of the Constitution which deals with the president's powers to grant pardon, suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases.

Rajoana, a former Punjab police constable, was convicted for his involvement in an explosion outside the Punjab civil secretariat that killed Beant Singh and 16 others on August 31, 1995.

A special court sentenced him to death in July 2007.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)