Chandigarh: The hanging of Beant Singh
assassination case convict Balwant Singh Rajoana would not
take place on March 31 as ordered by a local court, Punjab
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Monday.
Sukhbir, who also holds the Home portfolio, told
reporters here that "our duty is to maintain law and order at
any cost. Hanging is not going to take place," he said.
He said the order for execution of Rajoana cannot be
carried out since SGPC has filed a petition before the
President seeking clemency for him. The appeal of another
convict Lakhwinder Singh is also pending in the Supreme Court,
he added.
He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal made a clear
statement in the state assembly earlier today saying he would
soon be calling on the President and the Prime Minister in
order to secure clemency for Rajoana and get his death
sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
Rajoana, who is lodged in Central Jail at Patiala in
Punjab, himself has not filed any mercy or review petition
following the recent order of the Additional Sessions Judge of
Chandigarh Shalini Singh Nagpal fixing March 31 as the date of
hanging of Rajoana.
PTI
