Power of Governor to Grant Pardons and Remissions
Official heading: “Power of Governor to grant pardons, etc., and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases .”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part VI, Article 161, printed page 72
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
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1. In One Sentence
Article 161 empowers the Governor to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of punishment, or to suspend, remit, or commute sentences for offences against State laws.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 161 confers constitutional clemency powers upon the State Governor. The Governor can grant pardons, reprieves, respites, and remissions, or suspend, remit, or commute sentences of any person convicted of an offence relating to a matter to which the State executive power extends.
Comparison with Presidential Power (Article 72): The Governor's clemency power operates strictly within the State's executive competence (List II and List III). Unlike the President, the Governor has no power to pardon court-martial sentences. Following Supreme Court clarifications, Governors can commute death sentences under State laws, though the President retains concurrent and broader capital clemency jurisdiction.
Landmark Ruling on Judicial Review: In Epuru Sudhakar v. Government of A.P. (2006), the Supreme Court ruled that the clemency power under Article 161 is not absolute or immune from judicial review. An order can be challenged if it was passed without application of mind, on arbitrary grounds, actuated by mala fides, or based on extraneous or political considerations.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A convicted prisoner who has served 16 years of a life sentence applies for premature release under State remission policy guidelines.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 161 provides executive mercy powers balanced by rule-of-law constraints.
- Scope: Extends only to offences against laws relating to matters within State executive competence.
- Types of clemency: Pardon (complete wipe-out), reprieve (temporary stay), respite (lesser sentence on special grounds), remission (reduction of duration without changing character), and commutation (substitution of lighter penalty).
- Exercised on Cabinet advice: Governed by the State government's formal advice, not personal discretion.
- Subject to limited judicial review: Vulnerable to challenge on grounds of mala fides, non-application of mind, or arbitrariness.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part VI, Article 161, printed page 72 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.