Date:01/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/01/stories/2006090101341400.htm

National

Power of pardon: ruling reserved

Legal Correspondent

Plea relates to Andhra Pradesh Governor granting remission of term to Congress leader

Congress leader was sentenced to 10 years for murder

Bench wonders how remission was granted in absence of material

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved the verdict on a petition on the scope and powers of the President and Governors to grant pardon and give remission of sentence to convicts.

A Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia reserved the verdict at the conclusion of arguments from amicus curiae, the former Attorney General, Soli Sorabjee, senior counsel T.R. Andhyarujina, Altaf Ahmed, Ranjit Kumar, Mukul Rohatgi and others.

The Bench was hearing a petition challenging the grant of pardon by the Andhra Pradesh Governor to a Congress leader sentenced to10-year imprisonment in a murder case involving TDP workers.

The Bench, while perusing the records and documents submitted by the Andhra Pradesh Government pertaining to the grant of pardon to Gowru Venkata Reddy, wondered how the Governor could have granted remission in the absence of concrete material. The judges indicated that they would remit the matter back to the Governor for consideration. However, counsel for the petitioners Epuru Sudhakar and another, sons of the deceased, opposed this. They sought quashing of the order passed by the Governor, as Gowru Venkata Reddy had been granted remission by the State Government after he served a term of only three years. The Bench then decided to reserve the orders.

Senior counsel Andhyarujina submitted that Venkata Reddy had served five years and 12 days. He said the scope of judicial review was extremely limited and the Governor's order could be interfered with only if it had been passed without application of mind or the order was mala fide or passed on the basis of some extraneous consideration.