Topic Details (Notes format)

Pardoning Power of the President (Article 72)

Subject: Polity

Book: Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth

Allows the President to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, or remission of punishments, especially in death sentence cases or offenses under union jurisdiction. This prerogative upholds humanitarian considerations and correctional justice. Though exercised on the Council of Ministers’ advice, controversies arise when mercy petitions face political influence or indefinite delays. Judicial review is limited to checking procedural arbitrariness, not the mercy’s merits. Similarly, Governors hold pardoning powers for state offenses (Article 161). This constitutional device ensures scope for compassion in the justice system, balancing deterrence with mercy and acknowledging that rigid application of law may sometimes require humane intervention.

Practice Questions

संसद सदस्यों का वेतन और भत्ता किस अनुच्छेद में निर्धारित है?

Which of the following provisions of the Indian Constitution is related to the financial emergency?

निर्वाचन आयोग के अध्यक्ष का कार्यकाल कितना होता है?

Which of the following is NOT a part of the Union List of the Indian Constitution?

Which of the following is NOT a part of the Indian Constitution?

संसद में विधेयक पर पुनर्विचार का अधिकार किसे है?

Who was the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha?

संसद के अध्यक्ष को किस नाम से जाना जाता है?

भारत का संविधान किस वर्ष अपनाया गया था?

अनुच्छेद 370 किस राज्य को विशेष दर्जा प्रदान करता था?