Consider the following statements regarding the pardoning powers of th...
• Pardoning Power of the President
1. Article 72 empowers the President to grant pardons and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases.
2. The President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence:
✓ In all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial;
✓ In all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends;
✓ In all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.
• Pardoning Power of the Governor
1. Article 161 of the Indian Constitution empowers the governor of a state to grant pardons and to suspend, remit, commute sentences. The scope of the pardoning power of the President under Article 72 is wider than the pardoning power of the Governor under Article 161.
2. The Governor of a State shall have the power 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 executive power of the State extends.
• Difference between the Pardoning Powers of the President and the Governor
1. The power of the President to grant pardon extends in cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial but Article 161 does not provide any such power to the Governor. Hence option 2 is not correct.
2. The President can grant pardon in the case of a death sentence, but the pardoning power of the Governor does not extend to death sentence cases. Hence option 1 is correct.
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Consider the following statements regarding the pardoning powers of th...
Pardoning Powers of the President and Governor
Statement 1: While the President can pardon a death sentence, the governor of a state cannot.
This statement is correct. Article 72 of the Constitution of India empowers the President to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offense. This power can be exercised by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers. However, this power does not extend to cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court-martial.
On the other hand, the Governor of a State has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offense under the laws of that state. However, the Governor cannot pardon a death sentence.
Statement 2: The Constitution of India empowers both the President and governors of states to grant pardon where the punishment is by court-martial.
This statement is incorrect. As mentioned earlier, the power of the President to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment does not extend to cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court-martial. Similarly, the Governor of a State does not have the power to grant pardon in cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court-martial.
Therefore, the correct answer is option (a) 1 only.
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