The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition for the use of its special writ jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution in the row over the death penalty to Balwant Singh Rajoana, assassin of former Punjab CM Beant Singh, saying no intervention was required as no violation of his fundamental right was brought to the court’s notice.
A bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and Gyan Sudha Misra said the option of filing of an appeal by Rajoana against his conviction and sentence is still open but if he has not preferred to file it, then a third party has no right to invoke the provisions of Article 32 unless any violation of his fundamental rights are pointed out.
The SC was hearing a petition filed by Abhinav Ramakrishna under Article 32 for intervention by the SC in the matter. However, a forum of human right lawyers from Punjab, which also filed a petition for the SC’s intervention in the hanging of Rajoana, withdrew its petition after the President had stayed his execution. “In Article 32 you can agitate for violation of fundamental rights. But you have not pointed out any such violation. If there is any violation of his (Rajoana’s) fundamental rights, you show us, we will look into it, Otherwise, let the concerned person come,” the bench told senior counsel P. Narasimha, who appeared for Mr Ramakrishna while dismissing the petition.