POWER TO PARDON OF PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR.

The word pardon means to forgive a person of his offence. The term 'pardon' has
been defined as an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the
execution of the law, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed upon,
from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed. It affects both
the punishment prescribed for the offence and the guilt of the offender
A President of India and the Governors of States is empowered with the power to
pardon under Article 72 And 161 of the Indian Constitution. Article 72 says that the
President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of
punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted
of any offence.
The meaning of these terms is as follows:
Pardon: Complete pardon
Reprieve: Temporary suspension of sentence
Respite: Awarding less sentence
Remission: Reducing amount of sentence
Commutation: Changing one punishment to another.
Difference between pardoning powers of President and Governor :
The scope of the pardoning power of the President under Article 72 is wider than
the pardoning power of the Governor under Article 161. The power differs in the
following two ways:
The power of the President to grant pardon extends in cases where the punishment
or sentence is by a Court Martial but Article 161 does not provide any such power
to the Governor.
The President can grant pardon in all cases where the sentence given is sentence of
death but pardoning power of Governor does not extend to death sentence cases.

Purpose of Granting Pardon :Pardon may substantially help in saving an innocent person from being punished
due to miscarriage of justice or in cases of doubtful conviction.
The hope of being pardoned itself serves as an incentive for the convict to behave
himself in the prison institution and thus, helps considerably in solving the issue of
prison discipline.
It is always preferable to grant liberty to a guilty offender rather than sentencing an
innocent person.
The object of pardoning power is to correct possible judicial errors, for no human
system of judicial administration can be free from imperfections.
Process of granting pardon in India :
The process starts with filing a mercy petition with the President under Article 72
of the Constitution. Such petition is then sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs in
the Central Government for consideration. The above mentioned petition is
discussed by the Home Ministry in consultation with the concerned State
Government. After the consultation, recommendations are made by the Home
Minister and then, the petition is sent back to the President.
Conclusion :
The pardoning power of Executive is very significant as it corrects the errors of
judiciary. It eliminates the effect of conviction without addressing the defendants
guilt or innocence. The process of granting pardon is simpler but because of the
lethargy of the government and political considerations, disposal of mercy petitions
is delayed. Therefore, there is an urgent need to make amendment in law of
pardoning to make sure that clemency petitions are disposed quickly. There should
be a fixed time limit for deciding on clemency pleas.
Regarding the judicial review debate, pardoning power should not be absolute as
well as Judiciary should not interfere too much in exercise of this power. As
judicial review is a basic structure of our Constitution, pardoning power should be
subjected to limited judicial review. If this power is exercised properly and not

misused by executive, it will certainly prove useful to remove the flaws of the
judiciary.