PARDONING
POWERS OF GOVERNOR - POLITY
News: SC orders release of all six Rajiv case convicts
What's
in the news?
●
The Supreme Court ordered the immediate
release of six life convicts who have been in prison for more than three
decades in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
●
The six convicts are: Nalini,
Ravichandran, Jayakumar, Suthenthiraja (Santhan), Murugan and Robert Payas.
●
A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and B.V.
Nagarathna noted that the Tamil Nadu State Cabinet had recommended their
premature release to the Governor in 2018.
●
The Governor, instead of taking a call,
had passed on their files to the Centre.
● The Governor was bound by the advice of the Cabinet in cases of murder as their convictions under the now-lapsed Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act was set aside by the top court.
Key
takeaways:
●
In May, the court had ordered
Perarivalan’s release exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
● The judgment had concluded that the State of Tamil Nadu, and not the Union, had exclusive power to recommend remission in the case.
Pardoning
Power of Governor:
● Pardon can be defined as "clemency," "grace," or "mercy" and it is mentioned in the written constitution of many nations.
Constitutional
Provisions:
● Article 161 addresses the Governor's authority to grant pardons, etc., as well as suspend, remit, or commute sentences in certain circumstances.
Power:
●
The Governor of a State shall have the
authority to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of punishment,
or to suspend, remit, or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any
offence against any law relating to a
matter to which the State's executive power extends.
●
He has the authority to pardon, reprieve,
respite, remit, suspend, or commute the punishment or sentence of anyone who
has been convicted of an offense against
state law.
●
He
is unable to pardon a death sentence. Even if a state law
calls for the death penalty, the President, not the Governor, has the authority
to grant a pardon. However, the Governor
has the authority to suspend, remit, or commute a death sentence.
● He doesn't have the authority to grant pardon, reprieve, respite, suspension, remission, or commutation of punishment or sentence imposed by a court-martial (military court).
GO
BACK TO BASICS:
1.
Pardon - It rescinds both the sentence and the conviction
and absolves the offender from all sentences, punishment, and disqualification.
2.
Reprieve - It means a temporary suspension of execution of
sentence (especially that of death) pending a proceeding for pardon or
commutation from the President.
3. Remission - The power of remission reduces the number of sentences without changing its character. For example, a sentence of imprisonment for one year may be remitted for six months.
4.
Respite - The power to grant respite means awarding a lesser
sentence instead of the prescribed penalty in view of some special facts. For
example, a pregnant woman offender is provided with respite.
The difference between
remission and respite is that the former when granted is permanent and the
latter when granted is temporary.
5.
Commutation - It merely substitutes one form of
punishment for another of a lighter character – death by transportation,
transportation by rigorous imprisonment, rigorous imprisonment by simple
imprisonment, simple imprisonment by fine, and so on.