NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to pass any orders on the petition seeking clemency to Balwant Singh Rajoana, who was awarded death penalty for assassinating former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.
A Bench, comprising Justice T S Thakur and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra, said, “It cannot pass any directions as the convict himself has not moved the apex court. The present petitioner Abhinav Ramakrishna, an advocate, has no locus standi to plead on behalf of Rajoana.”
In the process, the Bench allowed an NGO, Lawyers for Human Rights International to withdraw its petition on the same lines.
Justice Thakur told petitioner Abhinav that as the petition was filed under Article 32, he could not entertain it as none of his fundamental rights were infringed upon.
The NGO, in its petition averred that Rajoana was not represented properly in the special CBI court and that he had not filed any appeal in the High Court against his conviction.
The death penalty of Hawara, who filed an appeal, was commuted to life term, it pointed out. The NGO challenged the March 22 verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had dismissed a PIL questioning the order of the special CBI court convicting Rajoana and sentencing him to death.