New Delhi, Oct. 8 -- The Centre on Wednesday opposed in the Supreme Court the plea of Balwant Singh Rajoana -- a Babbar Khalsa sympathiser who is on death row for the 1995 assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh and has sought commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment -- citing the "prevailing situation" in Punjab and saying it would not be conducive to take any decision on commutation. The Centre's stand assumes particular significance in Punjab, which is due to go to the polls early next year, as the case concerns a convict whose execution has for more than a decade remained entangled with concerns over national security, law and order and the state's sensitive political environment. Appearing before a bench headed by justice Vikram Nath, additional solicitor general (ASG) KM Nataraj said the Union government was "opposed" to Rajoana's plea, which seeks commutation on the ground of the prolonged delay in deciding his mercy petition pending before the President since 2012. "We have objection to what they are demanding. Considering the prevailing situation in the state (Punjab), it will not be conducive to take any decision," Nataraj said. The bench, also comprising justices Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Kumar Singh, made it clear that in view of the Centre's opposition to commutation, it would now examine the plea on merits. "Now that they insist on commuting their death sentence to life to which you oppose, we will hear the matter on merits," it said. The court posted the matter for October 28 after Nataraj sought time to prepare the case. Rajoana's lawyer Diksha Rai sought to rely on past Supreme Court decisions in which prolonged delay in deciding mercy petitions has been considered while examining claims for commutation of death sentences. Rajoana, a former Punjab Police constable, was convicted for his involvement in the suicide bombing outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. The blast killed Beant Singh and 16 others, and Rajoana was identified as the backup bomber. A special court sentenced him to death in July 2007, a decision upheld by the Punjab & Haryana high court in 2010. He was scheduled to be executed on March 31, 2012, but the execution was stayed after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) filed a mercy plea on his behalf. That plea has remained pending before the President for more than 14 years. The prolonged pendency has repeatedly brought the case back before the Supreme Court. On September 23, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, told the court that he was now insisting only on the issue of commutation of the death sentence. Rajoana's plea is founded on the argument that prolonged uncertainty over his fate and the inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition violate his right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. His legal team has maintained that the delay itself furnishes a ground for commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment. The Centre, however, has consistently resisted a decision on the mercy plea, citing security and law-and-order concerns. In 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs had proposed commuting Rajoana's death sentence to life imprisonment as part of the commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. The proposal, however, was never formalised. Rajoana subsequently approached the Supreme Court in 2020, seeking implementation of the proposal and a decision on his mercy plea. During the proceedings, the Centre said it had decided to defer the issue, citing its "serious potential of compromising the security of the nation or creating a law and order situation". The issue came before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court again in May 2023, with justice Nath being a member of the bench. The court declined to direct the Centre to take a decision, holding that the matter fell within the domain of the executive. The May 2023 judgment said: "It would not be within the domain of this court to delve upon the decision of the competent authority to defer taking of any decision at present. It is within the domain of the executive to take a call on such sensitive issues. As such this court does not deem it appropriate to issue any further directions." The court had also rejected Rajoana's reliance on earlier cases where inordinate delay in deciding mercy petitions had resulted in commutation. "We may also record here that the three decisions relied upon in support of his (Rajoana) submission regarding inordinate delay in disposal of the mercy petition and resultantly commutation in such cases having been granted by this court, do not help the petitioner in view of the facts and situation being different in those three cases and in the present case." The case acquires an additional layer of sensitivity because of its deep political and security resonance in Punjab. The 1995 assassination of Beant Singh, who was chief minister during a period of intense militancy in the state, remains one of the most controversial political assassinations in Punjab's recent history. Any decision on the fate of Rajoana therefore carries implications beyond the individual claim for commutation, with the Union government now expressly placing the prevailing situation in Punjab before the Supreme Court. Rajoana has been in custody for more than 30 years. He did not challenge his death sentence before the Supreme Court even as the appeal filed by another co-convict, Jagtar Singh Hawara, remains pending. At one stage, the Centre had argued that a decision on Rajoana's mercy plea should await the outcome of Hawara's appeal. Rajoana's lawyers have opposed that position, pointing out that he cannot be made to suffer an indefinite wait for a decision on his own sentence because of proceedings involving another convict....