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Mercy petitions: the pardoning power and delay as a ground for commutation

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: The Hindu; Constitution of India (Legislative Department); Supreme Court of India

Why in news: On 28 October 2026, the Centre opposed in the Supreme Court Balwant Singh Rajoana's plea to commute his death sentence over mercy-petition delay.

Mercy petitions: the pardoning power and delay as a ground for commutation
Illustration (AI-generated)

Articles 72 and 161 let the President and a Governor pardon, reprieve, respite or remit punishment, or commute sentences. The President's power covers every death sentence. The Supreme Court treats unexplained executive delay in deciding a mercy petition as a ground to commute death. On 28 October 2026, the Centre opposed such a delay plea in the Supreme Court.

Syllabus: GS2 · Constitution; GS2 · Separation of Powers; Prelims · Polity & Governance

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 polity, on the executive's powers and judicial review: Prelims can ask what Articles 72, 161 and 74 provide; Mains, whether delay in deciding mercy petitions justifies commutation after Shatrughan Chauhan.

In short

The pardoning power under Articles 72 and 161 lets the executive soften a court's sentence; courts do not reopen guilt, but they guard against unexplained delay in deciding mercy petitions.

From sentence to clemencyreviewForms ofclemencyCouncil ofMinistersadviceMercydecision isdelayedArticle 32routeDelay asground

Clemency must remain a humane executive check, exercised on advice and without unexplained delay, so that waiting itself never becomes an added punishment.

Why it matters

A prisoner whose mercy petition lies undecided for years lives each day not knowing whether the noose or a life term awaits. That waiting, not the crime, is what the courts now look at. When the executive cannot explain why a file sat still, the court can turn a death sentence into imprisonment for life. The rule therefore protects the condemned against official slowness, and it pushes governments to decide quickly and keep a clear record. It also keeps a check on a power that is otherwise exercised in private, on ministerial advice that courts cannot examine. The larger issue is how a democracy keeps the death penalty fair after the trial ends.

Prelims pointers

  • Article 72(1) covers three classes: sentences by a Court Martial, offences under laws on Union matters, and all sentences of death.
  • Article 72(3) saves the Governor's power to suspend, remit or commute a death sentence under any law in force.
  • Article 161 does not reach court-martial sentences; only the President's power under Article 72 does.
  • Under the proviso to Article 74(1), the President may require ministers to reconsider advice, and then acts on the reconsidered advice.
  • Article 163(3) bars any court from inquiring whether, or what, advice ministers tendered to the Governor.
  • Article 32(2) empowers the Supreme Court to issue writs, including habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the pardoning power under the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:

1. The Governor of a State may grant a pardon to a person sentenced by a Court Martial.

2. The President may commute a sentence for an offence against a law on a matter of Union executive power.

3. Article 72 takes away the Governor's power to commute a sentence of death under State law.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only
  3. (c) 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 only

Answer: (b) 2 only. Only statement 2 matches the text of Article 72.

Statement 1: incorrect. Article 161 covers offences against laws on State matters; court-martial sentences fall only under Article 72(1)(a), the President's power.

Statement 2: correct. Article 72(1)(b) covers offences against any law on a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends.

Statement 3: incorrect. Article 72(3) says the President's death-sentence power does not affect the Governor's power to suspend, remit or commute a death sentence.

Eliminate: statement 3 is wrong because Article 72(3) expressly saves the Governor's power. Out: (c), (d).

Eliminate: statement 1 is wrong because Article 161 has no court-martial clause. Out: (a).

Trap: Wrong scope. Statement 1 stretches the Governor's power to military courts, and statement 3 reads the President's death-sentence power as exclusive.

Remember: Court Martial is the President's alone; death sentences can reach both Governor and President.

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