Family will appeal for release of convict in Beant Singh assassination case if govt withdraws three farm laws: Cong's Ravneet Singh Bittu

Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu on Sunday said that his family will appeal for the release of convicts in his grandfather and former Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case if the central government withdraws three farm laws.

This comes a day after Shirom Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal urged the Union Government to set free Balwant Singh Rajoana who was convicted in Beant Singh assassination case and has spent over two decades in jail.

While talking to , Ravneet Singh Bittu, the Congress MP from Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency of Punjab alleged that SAD is a B team of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"On the calls of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an application for daily hearing before January 26 has been filed in the Supreme Court for the release of Balwant Singh Rajoana who had killed my grandfather Beant Singh and 17 others," Bittu said.

"Badal Saheb is saying that Balwant Singh Rajoana should be released from jail as soon as possible. But I want to ask if your father who has been chief minister for five terms and he was murdered then would your son go to rescue/release those killers?" he added.

The Supreme Court had on Friday asked the Centre to decide before January 26 on the plea seeking commutation of the death penalty of Balwant S Rajoana who is convicted in the assassination case of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

The Congress leader said that if "BJP wants that the convicted should be released, then our family has decided that we will appeal for the release of convicts before President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and CBI but in exchange, they have to withdraw three farm laws against which farmers are protesting at different borders of Delhi for over a month now."

Bittu said that BJP wants to distract the people from the farmers' issue and "hence they are doing this".

While appealing for the release of Balwant Singh Rajoana, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the Congress party leaders to rise above political opportunism and back the release of Rajoana.

On December 4, 2020, the Supreme Court asked the Central government when would it send a proposal to the President for the commutation of Balwant Singh Rajoana's death sentence for killing then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

A Chandigarh court had, on July 27, 2007, awarded death sentence to Rajoana which was upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 12, 2010. Rajoana has not filed an appeal against the decision and instead filed a mercy petition before the President. It also gave the death penalty to Jagtar Singh Hawara, and life imprisonment to Gurmit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Shamsher Singh, involved in the assassination case.

On August 31, 1995, 17 people, including the then chief minister Beant Singh, were killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.

( With inputs from ANI )