Supreme Court refuses to entertain clemency plea for Balwant Singh Rajoana

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today refused to pass any order on a plea for clemency to Balwant Singh Rajoana, awarded death penalty for assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

A bench of justices T S Thakur and Gyan Sudha Misra said it cannot pass any direction as the convict has not filed any petition before it and the petitioner Abhinav Ramakrishna has no locus standi to plead on his behalf.

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.