Pardoning Power of the President
—Contributed by Deepak Miglani
Under Article 72 President has the power to grant pardon, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence (1) by Court Martial ; (2) an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends;(3) in all cases in which the sentence is one of death. The object of conferring the "judicial" power on the President is to correct possible judicial errors, for no human system of judicial administration can be free from imperfections. President can give the pardon on humanitarian ground and correct the errors. Pardoning power is not exercised by him/her arbitrarily or capriciously. But in some cases when the public opinion is in favour of the punishment of the culprit who has committed heinous crime like terrorism. President should not ignore the public opinion. The Public Opinion should always be respected. Many mercy petitions are pending before the President. President should take decision on these petitions at the earliest . Putting a culprit behind bars without giving the punishment is the violation of their human right.
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