Comparison with Pardoning Powers of the Governor

According to Article 161, the Governor of a State also possesses powers to grant pardons and suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of an offence against a law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends. It means that the governor has pardoning powers, in cases, where conviction is under a law of that State.

The scope of pardoning power of the President under Article 72 is wider than the pardoning power of the Governor under Article 161. Their powers differ in the following two ways:

♤ The power of the President to grant pardon extends to cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial. But, Article 161 does not provide any such power to the Governor.

♤ The President can grant pardon in all cases where the sentence given is a sentence of death, but pardoning power of the Governor does not extend to death sentence cases.

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to release seven prisoners convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The Supreme Court had earlier commuted the death sentence of the convicts to life term. The Centre has also filed a writ in the case questioning the State government’s decision. The Centre has made the contention that since the prisoners were convicted under a Central Act like TADA, the decision of the State government is not legally tenable.