Rajoana's hanging is fixed for 31 March 2012, then stayed

Who: Balwant Singh Rajoana, whose hanging a Chandigarh court fixed for 31 March 2012; the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, and the Sikh high priests; SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar; Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal; President Pratibha Patil; the Union Home Ministry; and nine Panthic outfits.

What: Rajoana's death sentence, passed in 2007 and confirmed by the High Court in 2010, was for the 1995 assassination of Chief Minister Beant Singh. In March 2012 Additional Sessions Judge Shalini Singh Nagpal fixed 31 March for his hanging at Patiala Central Jail, Rediff reported. Rajoana had neither challenged his conviction nor filed a mercy petition, PTI said.

• 23 March: the Sikh high priests under Giani Gurbachan Singh directed Parkash Singh Badal and Avtar Singh Makkar to meet President Pratibha Patil and work to have Rajoana released unconditionally. They asked Sikhs to refrain from work on 28 March, pray for his chardi kala and wear saffron, declared Dilawar Singh a “national martyr” and Rajoana a “living martyr”, and noted that the death sentences of Kishori Lal and Dara Singh had been commuted (The Tribune). Nine Panthic outfits called a bandh for 28 March and marches towards Patiala.
• 25 March: the SGPC petitioned the President for clemency. Sukhbir Singh Badal said on 26 March that “our duty is to maintain law and order at any cost” and that the hanging would not take place (Rediff).
• 26 March: the high priests refused Rajoana's request to review the title, with Giani Gurbachan Singh saying the programme of 23 March was final (Hindustan Times).
• 28 March: the bandh passed off largely peacefully, but a clash in Patiala injured five, and there were lathi charges in Patiala, Jalandhar and Phagwara (The Tribune). Rajoana appealed to the youth “not to take to armed rebellion after my death”, the Tribune reported. That evening, after Badal called on the President and sought clemency, the Home Ministry stayed the execution on the SGPC's plea under Article 72. Its order, signed by Joint Secretary J. L. Chugh, stayed it until the Supreme Court's order in the criminal appeal or the President's order on the mercy petition, “whichever is later”.

In Rajoana Kalan villagers burst crackers, and Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Beant Singh's grandson and the Khanna MLA, said the stay would ensure long-term peace. The Supreme Court recorded in 2022 that the SGPC's petition of 25 March 2012 had still not been decided.

Where: Patiala Central Jail, where the hanging was to take place; Amritsar, where the high priests met; Patiala, Jalandhar and Phagwara, where the bandh saw clashes; and New Delhi.

Why it mattered: It brought Rajoana three days from the gallows, and the Akal Takht's edict of 23 March gave him the title of living martyr. The stay had no end date: it ran until whichever came later, a Supreme Court order or the President's decision.