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Chandigarh, May 18 (PTI) Apex gurdwara body SGPC has asserted that it will not withdraw the mercy petition filed in the case of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

A decision in this regard was taken by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) after holding a meeting with legal experts.

Rajoana had earlier demanded that the SGPC withdraw its petition concerning him.

Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Harjinder Singh Dhami, the president of the apex gurdwara body, said all the legal experts believed that the mercy petition should not be withdrawn and the legal battle should be carried on.

"All lawyers gave their view that the petition should not be withdrawn. We should see what the government's stand is on it," Dhami said.

Taking no decision on the petition by the successive governments at the Centre was not right. This is a very serious matter and it is important to form an opinion on it, he said.

He said the SGPC has been fighting a legal battle in this regard for a long time, but the successive governments "inaction" in this matter reflects "violation of human rights".

Prominent among those who participated in the meeting were senior advocates Puran Singh Hundal, G S Bal, Amar Singh Chahal, Rajwinder Singh Bains, Sikh scholar Kehar Singh and former IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu.

Former chief minister Beant Singh and 16 others were killed in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. A special court sentenced Rajoana to death in July 2007.

A mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution was moved by the SGPC on his behalf in March 2012. The Supreme Court in January this year had asked the Centre to take a decision on the petition.

The bench was hearing the plea seeking directions to commute his death sentence to a life term due to the "inordinate delay" in deciding his mercy petition.

The SGPC has also been seeking the release of other Sikh prisoners, including Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, a 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict. PTI CHS RHL DV DV

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)