Pardoning Powers of the president of India.


Article 72 of the Constitution empowers the president to give pardons of any convict with any types of offence.

He can give pardon in following cases:

1. Punishment or sentence is for any offence against a union law,

2. Punishment or sentence is by a court martial (military court),

3. Sentence is a sentence of death.


The object to conferring this power on the President is two-fold:

a.) to keep door open for correcting any judicial errors in the operation of law

b.) to afford relief from a sentence, which the President regards as unduly harsh.

Pardoning Powers of The President of India.


Pardoning Powers of the President of India includes the following


1. Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely absolves the convict from all the sentences, punishment and disqualifications.

Pardoning Power of The President of India.

2. Commutation: It denotes the substitution of one from of punishment for a lighter form. For example, a death sentence may be commuted to rigorous imprisonment which in turn may be commuted to a simple imprisonment.

Commutation Pardoning Power of The President of India.


3. Remission: It implies, reducing the period of sentence without changing its character. For example, a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for two years may be remitted to rigorous imprisonment for one year.

Remission Pardoning Powers of The President of India.

4. Respite: It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of a convict or the pregnancy of woman offender.

Respite Pardoning (in any offence) Powers of The President of India.

5. Reprieve: It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (specially that of death) for temporary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation from the President.

Reprieve Pardoning Power of The President of India.

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