Why are Bandi Singhs still jailed after completing their sentences?

The claim: The opposing case is that a life sentence has no end date, so these men have not "completed" anything, and release is mercy, not a right. The Supreme Court's Sriharan majority held that life means the rest of the convict's life unless the government remits it, and Section 433A sets only a floor of 14 years (LiveLaw; Supreme Court). On Balwant Singh Rajoana, Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2023 that the petition came from a "third party" and that a person showing no repentance for "his act of terrorism" should not expect mercy (Tribune). In October 2026 the Centre told the Supreme Court that given the situation in Punjab "it would not be conducive to take any decision" (Tribune). Maninderjeet Singh Bitta, target of the 1993 Delhi bombing, called Devinderpal Singh Bhullar's release a "grave threat to national security" (Tribune).

The sourced facts:

• The law. Section 432 CrPC lets the "appropriate Government" remit a sentence; Section 433A bars remission of a life sentence for an offence that can carry death, or of a commuted death sentence, before 14 years of actual imprisonment; BNSS Sections 473 and 475 are their successors. On 18 February 2025 the Supreme Court said a state with a remission policy must consider every eligible convict and give brief reasons for any refusal (Supreme Court).
• Centre or state. Under Section 432(7) the Centre is the appropriate government for matters in the Union's executive power. In State of Gujarat v. Lal Singh (29 June 2016) the Court held that for a TADA sentence "the Executive Power of the Union alone" applies. Where a central agency investigated, a state also needs the Centre's concurrence: Section 435, now Section 477 BNSS (LiveLaw; Courtbook).
• 2019. On 28 September 2019 the Home Ministry announced that eight Sikh prisoners would be freed and a death sentence commuted for Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 550th anniversary; the notification of 11 October named eight men (Tribune). Three were already out and three, among them Lal Singh in August 2020 after 28 years, were freed later; Bhullar and Khera were not (Tribune; ThePrint; Sikh Siyasat News).
• Bhullar and Khera. TADA courts convicted both. The Supreme Court commuted Bhullar's death sentence in March 2014 over an eight-year delay; Delhi's Sentence Review Board refused his release 6 to 1 in December 2023, though the Delhi government had recommended it, and again on 23 December 2025. Khera had served over 32 years by 2023; ThePrint reports Karnataka refused when the Centre asked it to release him (Tribune; ThePrint).
• Rajoana. Sentenced to death in 2007, he was due to hang on 31 March 2012; an SGPC mercy petition stayed it. The Home Ministry announced his commutation in 2019, but no later decision followed (The Week; Tribune).
• The Beant Singh case. The Chandigarh Administration refused premature release to Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh; their bail was cancelled and warrants issued on 4 March 2024 (Tribune). On 12 October 2026 CM Bhagwant Mann said Jagtar Singh Hawara's parole "now rests with the central government" (ThePrint).

The Panthic answer: SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said Shah's remarks were "contrary to the Centre's notification" of 2019; Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh formed a panel to take them to the PMO (Tribune). Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur said Waryam Singh, a TADA life convict freed in 2016, "should have been released after 14 years" but was held double that time for political reasons (Tribune). Bhai Ajmer Singh argues that Rajoana's case has no parallel: sentenced to death, not executed, held in the death cell, which means the state will neither let him attain Shahadat nor let him live; he calls it the baseness of the Indian state. A mercy petition, he says, must in principle be decided within six months, yet the Supreme Court's repeated deadlines, fifteen days and two months, have passed without action. In his account the 2019 decision had already settled life in jail, not hanging. Rajoana will never beg forgiveness as Shah demands, he says, because he made the confession himself; the SGPC filed the petition to build its own reputation, and begging mercy from the enemy insults the Shaheeds.