2018 · Q105
Which one of the following statements relating to the power of the President of India to grant pardon is not correct?
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- AThe President has the power to grant pardon where punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial.
- BThe President can grant pardon in all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.
- CThe Court's power of judicial review is very limited in relation to the decision of the President on mercy petition.
- DThe power to grant pardon by the President is the power that the sovereign never exercises against its own judicial mandate.
Explanation
Under Article 72 the President can pardon court-martial sentences (A true) and death sentences (B true), and the courts' power of judicial review over mercy decisions is very limited (C true, per Epuru Sudhakar). Statement D — the convoluted claim that the pardon is a power 'the sovereign never exercises against its own judicial mandate' — is not correct: the pardoning power is precisely an executive check exercised over judicial verdicts, on ministerial advice. Hence D is not correct.