Balwant Singh Rajoana, assassin of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, will now serve life imprisonment instead of death penalty as a humanitarian gesture by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Crux of the Matter
Balwant Singh Rajaona was charged for the 1995 explosion at Chandigarh Civil Secretariat. The explosion killed 17 members including CM Beant Singh.
He was given Death penalty in 2007.
As he refused to filing a mercy plea, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), in 2014, filed a plea on his behalf. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had also been insisting on the revocation of the death sentence.
As a token on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, MHA besides issuing the commutation of Balwant’s death sentence released 8 life imprisonment convicts charged for Sikh militancy.
“Since the crime took place in the jurisdiction of UT of Chandigarh, it is up to them how they process the case and present it before the President of India. MHA wrote a letter to UT Chandigarh and endorsed a copy to us; we have forwarded the letter to them,” said Mr. Ratnam, Principal Secretary of Jails, Punjab.
Curiopedia
Beant Singh was assassinated in a bomb blast at the secretariat complex in Chandigarh on 31 August 1995. The blast claimed the lives of 17 others including 3 Indian commandos. Beant Singh was accompanied by his close friend Ranjodh Singh Mann on the day of assassination. Dilawar Singh Babbar of Babbar Khalsa International acted as the suicide bomber; later, the backup bomber Balwant Singh Rajoana was also convicted for the killing. Read More
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