Which Indian President Pardoned The Most Death Row Inmates?
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Under Article 72 of the Indian Constitution, convicts can petition the President for clemency, seeking pardon, sentence reduction, or temporary suspension of their punishment
Under Article 72 of the Indian Constitution, a convicted person can file a mercy petition before the President. (Representative/PTI File)
The mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted for the murder of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, is pending with President Droupadi Murmu. In 2019, the government had resolved to commute his death sentence on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Having spent 28 years in prison, Rajoana is now seeking release. The Supreme Court has urged the President to come to a decision on Rajoana’s mercy petition within two weeks.
Since the implementation of the Constitution in 1950, 440 mercy petitions have been filed with the various presidents of India. Of these, 308 were accepted, and the death sentences of those convicts were commuted to life imprisonment.
Earlier, President Murmu rejected the mercy petition of Arif, a terrorist involved in the Red Fort attack. This marked the second time since assuming office that President Murmu has rejected a mercy petition. The Supreme Court also rejected Arif’s review petition on November 3, 2022, upholding the death sentence for his crime.
Under Article 72 of the Indian Constitution, a convicted person can file a mercy petition before the President. The purpose of the President’s power to pardon is to provide an opportunity for clemency, allowing the convict to seek forgiveness or a reduction in sentence. The President has the authority to temporarily suspend any sentence.
The governors of the states also possess the right to grant pardon. This right is bestowed upon them under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution. While the President considers the advice of the Union Cabinet on matters of clemency, the final decision rests solely on their discretion.
In India, a mercy petition represents the final recourse within the legal process. Should the President reject a convict’s mercy petition, they are left without any further legal avenues.
The 14th President of the country, Ram Nath Kovind, rejected all mercy petitions presented to him during his tenure. Notably, he rejected the mercy petition of Jagat Rai, who was convicted of murdering six people in Bihar’s Vaishali district. Rai had tragically killed a woman and her five children by locking them inside their house and setting it ablaze.
Additionally, President Kovind addressed the mercy petitions of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya murder case: Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta, and Akshay Kumar Singh. He rejected their petitions, and all four were subsequently hanged in Tihar Jail.
The final mercy petition rejected during President Kovind’s term was that of Sanjay, who had been sentenced to death in July 2006.
Which President received the most number of petitions?
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the country, received the highest number of mercy petitions of any President. During his tenure, he received 181 petitions, accepting 180 and commuting the sentences of those convicts to life imprisonment. He rejected only one mercy petition.
After Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain and VV Giri graced the post of President. Radhakrishnan received 57 mercy petitions, Zakir Hussain received 22 and VV Giri received three. All three commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment in all the petitions they received.
The fourth President of the country, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, did not receive a single mercy petition. The next President, N. Sanjiva Reddy, also did not receive any mercy petitions. Zail Singh, who was among the famous Presidents, received a total of 32 petitions; he accepted only two and rejected the remaining 30. The next President, R Venkataraman, dismissed 45 out of 50 petitions, the highest ever.
