Pardoning Powers of Governor

Pardoning Powers of Governor

Tamil Nadu Governor made a decision on a plea for the release of a prisoner. The prisoner is undergoing life imprisonment for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. 

About the Case

Perarivalan was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in May 1999 along with three other convicts - Murugan, Santham and Nalini - for Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.

However, the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in April 2000 for Nalini and in February 2014 for Perarivalan, Santhan and Murugan.

Meanwhile, in March 2016, the Tamil Nadu government wrote to the Centre proposing the remission of the four aforementioned convicts, along with three others - Jayakumar, Ravichandran and Robert Pyas.

The convicts had asked for suspension of their life sentences till another inquiry in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation-led Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency was completed.

Pardoning Powers of Governor

Article 161 of the Constitution specifically provides that the Governor shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person.

Unlike President of India, A Governor cannot pardon the death sentence (President has the power to do so).

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.

Different Pardoning Powers of Governor

1. Pardon: When the Governor pardons, both the sentence and the conviction of the convict completely absolve the sentences, punishments and disqualifications.
2. Respite: When the Governor uses his pardoning power of ‘Respite’, he chooses to award a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded to the convict.
3. Reprieve: When the Governor chooses the pardoning power of ‘Reprieve’; he stays the execution of a sentence (especially that of death) for a temporary period. By doing this, he enables the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation from him.
4. Remit: When the President chooses the pardoning power of Remit, he acts to reduce the period of the sentence but the character of the sentence remains the same.
5. Commute: Governor can commute the punishment or sentence of any person convicted of any offence against a state law or he can commute a death sentence.

Difference between Pardoning Power of the President and the Governor

1. The President can pardon a sentence of the convict given by the court-martial or the military court. But the Governor does not have the power to pardon the sentence inflicted by the court-martial on the convict
2. The President can also pardon the death sentence through commutation or in its entirety. Where the Governor cannot pardon the death sentence even if the said sentence has been prescribed under the state law. However, he can suspend, remit or commute the death sentence by using these pardoning powers.
3. President’s pardoning powers are granted for the cases where the convict has committed an offence against a Union law. But the Governor’s pardoning powers are granted for the cases where the convict has committed an offence against a state law.