Q. With reference to the pardoning power of Governor, consider the following statements;:
1.Governor’s non-exercise of power under Article 161 of the Constitution was immune from judicial review.
2.Governor does not have the power to grant pardon in a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Statement 1 is incorrect: Governor’s non-exercise of power under Article 161 of the Constitution was not immune from judicial review. For instance, Governor’s delay to decide Perarivalan’s pardon for more than two years has compelled the apex court to employ its constitutional powers under Article 142 to do justice to Perarivalan.
Statement 2 is incorrect: In Perarivalan case, Centre’s argued that the President exclusively and not the Governor had the power to grant pardon in a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. But the court said that such a contention would render Article 161 a “dead-letter”.
This would rather create an extraordinary situation whereby pardons granted by Governors in murder cases for the past 70 years would be rendered invalid.
Source: The Hindu
