Bhai Rajoana: Court Case Today

[Azaad]

With the Patiala jail authorities returning the death warrants for Balwant Singh Rajoana’s hanging back to the Chandigah court for the second time today, the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal reserved the final orders deciding the execution for tomorrow.

Heated arguments were witnessed in the court when the Patiala jail superintendent filed a petition strongly challenging the execution warrants. The CBI opposed the plea saying that the jail superintendent has no locus standi and is not a competent authority to challenge the death sentence. The CBI also said that the non-compliance of orders amounted to the contempt of court.

Patiala jail superintendent LS Jakhar submitted before the court that the death warrant could not be executed as the matter of other convict, Lakhwinder Singh, in the former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case, was still pending before the Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court of India has, in several judgments, extended the benefit of acquittal or lesser sentence to the other co-accused although they had not filed an appeal. It is necessary to await the outcome of the matter in the Apex Court before executing the death warrant of Balwant Singh Rajoana,” said Additional Advocate General Anupinder Singh Grewal.

“If some error/omission is committed in such a case, then it would be impossible to rectify the same because no one could give back life to a person,” added the counsel.

Jakhar had also raised the issue that Punjab had no territorial jurisdiction in the matter of hanging Rajoana.

CBI counsels RK Handa and Rajan Malhotra contended before the court that Jakhar had no locus standi to challenge the execution warrants issued by the court.

“It is surprising that the jail authorities are shielding a convict. They are presenting facts in a distorted manner,” said CBI counsel Rajan Malhotra.

[singh211]

Amar Singh Chahal (lawyer and member of Lawyers for Human Rights International) has just been interviewed on Sangat TV and has said LFHRI has today made an application to the Punjab and Haryana High Court to dismiss the case/conviction in the Beant Singh case against Rajoana and all the other Singhs on the basis the whole case is tainted by unfair process and is unsafe as Rajan Malhotra the prosecution lawyer throughtout the case is not a CBI lawyer and was never appointed by the CBI in this case! The Court has ordered the CBI to respond to the application by 30 March 2012. Chahal was suggesting the conviction should now be quashed but could also result in a re-trial.

I'm unclear whether Chahal was saying Malhotra is not a lawyer at all or not a CBI lawyer but either way this is staggering news. The information regarding Malhotra was obtained as a result of a freedom of information request from the CBI. Chahal also said criminal proceedings should be commenced against Malhotra.

LFHRI is already involved in the case as it is currently appealing to the Supreme Court against the dismissal of its petition to the Punjab and Haryana High Court to stay the execution of Rajoana. The petition was dismissed by the High Court on the basis LFHRI had no locus standi to make the application.

It is ironic that Malhotra was objecting to the locus standing of the Patiala Jail Superintendant in the courts as mentioned in the above report and for the LFHRI application when he does not appear to have any himself! The question naturally arises, if Malhotra was not appointed by the CBI, by whom was he appointed?

For more infomation on LFHRI see http://www.lfhri.org/