Rajoana writes to the Akal Takht to summon the BJP's Sikh leaders over his mercy petition

Who: Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana, held in Central Jail, Patiala, under a death sentence passed in 2007 in the case of the 1995 assassination of Chief Minister Beant Singh; Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, acting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib; the SGPC, which filed the mercy petition on his behalf; and the Sikh leaders of the BJP.

What: On July 22, 2026, The North News and PTC News reported a letter from Rajoana to Gargaj. He asked why a decision that should have taken six months was still pending after about 15 years. He asked the Akal Takht to summon the BJP's senior Sikh leaders and ask them to explain the delay, and said that if nothing is decided the SGPC should consider withdrawing its petition. He wrote that he never asked the Akal Takht to direct a stay of his execution, never asked the SGPC to file a mercy petition before the President, and never asked the Union Home Ministry to stay his sentence. He said he has served 31 years in prison and would complete 19 years in the death cell on July 31. PTC News adds that he asked the Akal Takht either to free him from what he called the political conspiracies of those in power, or to summon the BJP leaders.

It was his second letter of 2026. On April 1 he had written to the Akal Takht and the SGPC asking that the petition be withdrawn within 10 days, and warned of a hunger strike. The Tribune later reported that the SGPC authorised Gargaj to take a call on that appeal.

Where: Written from Central Jail, Patiala, addressed to Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar.

Why it mattered: A special CBI court sentenced Rajoana to death in 2007. The Supreme Court declined in May 2023 to commute the sentence and left the Centre to decide the mercy plea when it saw fit, The Tribune reported. The Union government has argued that the plea was filed by others, not by Rajoana himself, which it says contributed to the delay. The July letter takes the question from the courts to the Panth's own institutions: either end the SGPC petition, or hold to account the Sikh leaders in the party that rules at the Centre. The reports opened give no reply from Gargaj, the SGPC or the BJP.