PARDONING POWERS OF GOVERNOR

PARDONING POWERS OF GOVERNOR

Subject: Polity

Context: Tamil Nadu Governor BanwarilalPurohit would take a decision “as per the Constitution” in the next three or four days on the plea for release filed by A.G.

Concept:

Pardoning Powers of Governor

• Article 161 deals with the Pardoning Power of the Governor.
• The Governor can grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishments or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
• The Governor cannot Pardon a Death Sentence. (The President has the power of Pardon a death Sentence).
• The Governor cannot grant pardon, reprieve, respite, suspension, remission or commutation in respect to punishment or sentence by a court-martial. However, the President can do so.

Additional Information

• Pardon: means completely absolving the person of the crime and letting him go free. The pardoned criminal will be like a normal citizen.
• Commutation: means changing the type of punishment given to the guilty into a less harsh one, for example, a death penalty commuted to a life sentence.
• 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 or some other legal remedy to prove his innocence or successful rehabilitation.
• Respite: means reducing the quantum or degree of the punishment to a criminal in view of some special circumstances, like pregnancy, mental condition etc.
• Remission: means changing the quantum of the punishment without changing its nature, for example reducing twenty-year rigorous imprisonment to ten years.