In layman terms, the pardon means forgiving or showing mercy to someone. Likewise, our Indian Constitution also gives the power to pardon anyone in India. The Indian President possesses or has all kinds of power to pardon the person who is now convicted of serious crimes by our Judicial system. Likewise when there is a severe crime in the state, the person can approach the state’s governor for mercy. With the pardoning power governor has the right to show mercy.
Our Indian constitution gives this legal immunity to those crime offenders who got the capital punishment from Indian judiciary. Hence, the Governor has all right to accept this mercy petition of criminals but there are certain provisions. It is somewhat like independent duties of controller-general-accounts-cga , read more on For more details on the same, you have to go through this write-up.
Know all about the Definition – Pardoning Power
Pardoning is meant by grace, mercy or clemency and many national constitutions of different nations have mentioned this into their constitution.
The main objective of pardoning an individual is to eradicate all judicial errors that could have led to the injustice.
The President’s clemency power gives justice to Indian citizens who have mostly become the victim of wrong verdict of our judicial system.
The pardoning power is all meant to grave injustices on the base of evidence and what kind of criminal laws are being violated.
Hence a correct and the perfect legal system through this clemency power is being created.
Pardoning Powers of Governors
The Governor has a power to reprieve, respite, remit, commute, pardon, or suspend the punishment sentence done by the judicial system against the state law offences.
The death sentences cannot come under the pardoning power. Even if there is a death sentence, the President of India has the power to grant the Pardon and not the governor of the state.
The governor however has the power to remit, suspend, or commute the death sentence.
Even the punishment sentence imposed by the military court cannot be reprieved, respited, suspended, remission by the governor.
Constitutional Provisions
According to the Indian Constitution’s Article 161 address the Governor of state has an authority to grant pardons in certain situations. The governor can also suspend, remit, or commute sentences in some cases.
The State Governor has all authority to grant pardons or remit the punishment or suspend it in cases where state’s law is violated.
If criminals have not completed a minimum 14 years in prison, still the governor of a state has all powers to pardon prisoners. This is clearly mentioned by the Supreme Court of India ruling.
In the respiting pardoning power, the Governor awards a lesser sentence of which the original was mentioned in the Indian court. For instance, if there is a special case of disability or some others, the governor can use this power.
In the Reprieving pardoning power, the governor has the power to put a stay on execution sentence (like death). As a result, the convicted person has time to seek pardon or commutation.
In the remit of pardoning power, the state governor reduces the period of sentence but the character of the punishment will not change. It means the two years of prison can be changed to one year.
The governor has the power to commute the sentence that is given by our Indian judicial system.
