The Governor of a state has almost the same powers of showing mercy to a convict as the President of India. Do you agree?

By Srirangam Sriram, Sriram's IAS, New Delhi.

The pardoning powers of the Indian President are elucidated in Art 72 of the Indian Constitution. There are five different types of pardoning which are mandated by law.

1. Pardon: means completely absolving the person of the crime and letting him go free. The pardoned criminal will be like a normal citizen.
2. Commutation: making the punishment less harsh one, for example, a death penalty commuted to a life sentence.
3. Reprieve: means a delay allowed in the execution of a sentence, usually a death sentence, for a guilty person to allow him some time to apply for Presidential Pardon and not executing till the presidential decision is given.
4. Respite: means reducing the punishment to a criminal in view of some special circumstances, like pregnancy, mental condition etc.
5. Remission: means changing the quantum of the punishment without changing its nature, for example reducing twenty-year rigorous imprisonment to ten years.

Governor has all these powers except two

1. His powers do not extent to pardoning a death sentence and
2. Orders of the military court are outside the Governor’s jurisdiction.

Otherwise, the powers of Governor regarding the State List are the same as the powers of the President regarding the Union List.

Published date : 13 Nov 2020 01:17PM