Jails Dept To Send Court Orders Back Yet Again

[Azaad]

The state government is almost certain to send back the orders of the Chandigarh court on hanging Balwant Singh Rajoana to death on March 31, yet again sighting certain technicalities.

Sources said the court orders could be sent back in the next two days by state lawyers. Highly placed sources said following a closed-door meeting of the Home Department and the Jails Department, it had been decided that the death warrants re-sent by the Chandigarh court to hang Rajoana be returned without execution for the second time.

“The co-accused in the Beant Singh assassination case, Jagtar Singh Hawara, who was also sentenced to death, was later awarded the life sentence by the court in the same case after he filed an appeal. There is no logic in hanging the other accused just because he did not file an appeal.

“There cannot be two sentences for the same crime. We will take up the matter in court through proper channels ”, said a senior official after consulting the Advocate- General’s office.

Patiala Jail Superintendent LS Jakhar reportedly visited Chandigarh today and discussed the case with senior officials of various departments.

“We are absolutely not ready for the hanging,” said a senior jail official. “The matter has been discussed at the highest level and the government is not keen to execute the death penalty”, he added. Insiders say that the Jails Department has not made any preparations for the hanging.

Balwant Singh has tied the noose around his neck because he has “no faith in judiciary of this country” and its Constitution. An in-depth analysis of the judicial record carried out by the Tribune reveals that Balwant Singh has on more than one occasion expressed scepticism on the country’s justice delivery system. He has, in fact, cited it as the reason behind his decision against contesting the trial and the death sentence.

In a letter to Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Balwant Singh on August 10, 2009, wrote from Burail Jail’s barrack number 5: “I have already submitted an application to the High Court stating therein that I have not filed any appeal against the death sentence pronounced by the sessions judge, because I have no faith in the judiciary of this country.”

He has gone on to add: “The other co-accused, who have been sentenced in this case, have filed an appeal in the High Court because they have faith in the judiciary. Therefore, the case relating to my death penalty may be considered separately.

On December 24, 1997, Balwant Singh filed an application “narrating in detail the commission of the offence and also stating that he did not have any faith in the Constitution”.

Judicial records reveal that Balwant Singh consciously took the decision to go unrepresented before the trial court. Initially, advocate SK Chopra was appointed amicus curiae in the case.

The order sheet of March 12, 1998, reveals Balwant Singh moved an application that he did not want to contest the case. On March 16, 1998, Chopra “was discharged by the court and told to not to represent Balwant Singh as the accused himself did not want to be represented by any counsel and did not want to contest the case”.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Division Bench of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Arvind Kumar has also in its judgment referred in detail his refusal to be represented, despite a categorical offer.