National Commission for Minorities Chairperson and senior Punjab BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal said on Thursday that the issue of releasing Sikh prisoners was complex and that due legal procedure had to be followed.Speaking to the media after a meeting in Chandigarh, Grewal said there had been demands for the release of several Sikh prisoners convicted of crimes committed during the period of terrorism in Punjab. “However, a prescribed procedure has to be followed for that,” he said.Citing the case of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is on death row for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, Grewal said, “He cannot be released until his death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment. Also, he has not filed a mercy petition. As per the procedure, such a convict has to submit a mercy petition expressing remorse for the crime and assuring that it will not be repeated. Rajoana has instead said he would repeat what he did in another life too. So, what can be done in such a case?”Grewal clarified that the commission was not directly involved in the matter. “We have not received any complaint or representation. We will act as per the law if we receive any,” he said.On the issue of parole for Jagtar Singh Hawara, another convict in the Beant Singh assassination case, Grewal stressed that such matters were legal rather than political. “These are not political matters, as some parties in Punjab are trying to make them,” he added.