COURTESY HT FEB 10

SGPC spent ₹58 lakh on pursuing Rajoana’s mercy petition in SC

SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur.
Surjit Singh

surjit.singh@htlive.com

AMRITSAR : To expedite commutation of death penalty to Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassination, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has paid ₹58 lakh to a lawyer for appearances in the Supreme Court.

In the executive committee meeting on Tuesday, the SGPC cleared the bills to pursue the case, after which the SGPC president Jagir Kaur said the gurdwara body was paying ₹11 lakh to a lawyer for each appearance in the top court that had asked the Centre on January 8 to decide before January 26 on the plea of Rajoana for a decision on the mercy petition filed by the SGPC.

The gurdwara body is also paying fees of the lawyer for pursuing the case of Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who has been serving a life sentence for his role in the 1993 Delhi blast, said Kaur.

“The SGPC is committed to giving legal aid to Rajoana. Now, when the SC has directed the Centre to take a decision on Rajoana’s plea, it must not delay in commuting the death penalty,” said Kaur.

As per records accessed by HT, the SGPC has thus far spent ₹58 lakh on Rajoana and ₹2 lakh on Bhullar.

Relief to families of farmers

who died during stir

Besides, the money spent on providing financial aid to the families of the farmers who died during protesting against the three farm laws exceeds ₹1 crore. A financial assistance of ₹1 lakh is being given to family of each farmer who died at protest sites.

Demanding cancellation of the cases registered against the farmers in Delhi on January 26, she said, “This is unfortunate that the Union government is not listening to the farmers and suppressing their voice. The arrested farmers should be released and cases against them cancelled,” she said.

She also sought justice for labour rights activists Naudeep Kaur.

On Deep Sidhu’s arrest, she said the government and its agencies first paved the way for what happened in Delhi on January 26 and now they are holding others guilty. “Who is guilty or not is a matter of fair investigation,” she added.