SAD slams AAP for ‘creating hurdles in the way’ of Rajoana’s parole

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday asserted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was coming in the way of grant of parole to death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana and demanded it give its consent for the same during the hearing of the case in the Supreme Court fixed for Monday.

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said in a statement here that the AAP government had created hurdles in the release of Rajoana on parole during the last hearing in the case in apex court with the Punjab government counsel coming up with a lame excuse that a reply on the same could not be filed due to the vacation.

In 2007 Rajoana was convicted for life for assassinating chief minister Punjab Beant Singh. In 2012 his life sentence was stayed by the union home minister pending a clemency from the Supreme Court.

Coming heavily on the AAP government, Majithia said “governments do not sleep during vacations. The very fact that the AAP government has adopted this stand indicates that it has no intention of honoring the sentiments of the Sikh community on this extremely sensitive issue and instead is bent on opposing the wishes of the entire community. The Sikh community is aggrieved that the human rights and personal liberty of Rajoana as well as all other Bandi Singhs have been violated and wants that they should be released immediately.”

Asking chief minister Bhagwant Mann not to fool Punjabis, Majithia said “the chief minister should immediately issue directions for a clear cut no objection for the release of Rajoana and present the same in the Supreme Court.”

“The government is aware that the mercy petition, which was filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in March, 2012 has been kept pending for twelve years. This is not all. It must also bring on record that the central government had decided to grant a special remission for the release of Sikh detainees including Rajoana by commuting the latter’s death sentence to life imprisonment on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak in 2019.”