India Supreme courth refuses clemency plea for Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana

New Delhi, India: Supreme Court of India today refused to take up plea seeking to grant clemency to former CM Beant’s Singh killer Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is to be hanged on Mar 31 as scheduled.

An apex court bench, headed by Justice T.S. Thakur, dismissed as withdrawn the petition by advocate Abhinav Ramkrishna on the ground that the petitioner had no locus standi to make such an appeal. The court also asked how, in a criminal matter, could a person other than the accused move the higher court seeking relief against the award of a sentence. The apex court also allowed an NGO, Lawyers for Human Rights International, to withdraw its petition filed with a similar plea.

The bench told Abhinav Ramakrishna, an advocate, that since petition was filed under Article 32, it cannot be entertained as in no way, any fundamental right of the petitioner was violated.

In other words, the bench said, Article 32 provision could be invoked only by a person whose fundamental right is violated.

The court also noted that there was no pressing situation as the government had already put on hold the implementation of Rajoana’s death sentence.