Riders in granting clemency within President's powers: Madras HC

The President of India is well within his powers to impose conditions while granting pardon and the power bestowed by the Constitution in this regard is absolute, the Madras High Court held on Wednesday.

Dismissing a plea from three prisoners, who challenged a rider -that they must remain in jail for the rest of their natural lives - put forth by the President while commuting their death sentences to life terms, the court said there was no arbitrariness in such a condition.

V Radhakrishnan, C Selvam and A Sheikh Meeran were convicted and sentenced to death by a sessions court in 1998.

It was upheld by the Madras High Court in 1999 and confirmed later by the Supreme Court that year.

Review petitions filed by the petitioners were also dismissed on July 15, 1999.

After their mercy petitions were rejected by the Tamil Nadu Governor, they forwarded their plea to the President, who in 2012 ordered commutation of the death sentences to life terms.

The relief, however, came with a condition that the trio shall be in prison for the remainder of their natural lives and remission shall not be applicable to them.

Petitioners' counsel M Radhakrishnan argued that the condition imposed against them is arbitrary, unfair and unreasonable and violative of Articles 14 and 21 (right to equality, life) of the Constitution.

The petitioners were unable to seek premature release despite serving 24 years of imprisonment due to that condition, he submitted.

Clemency given to the petitioners showed they were capable of being reformed and still they will never get a chance to come out of the prison and that goes against the very fundamental principles of criminal law, which always seeks to reform and rehabilitate an accused person, the counsel contended.

Additional Solicitor General G Rajagopalan submitted that the power to grant clemency is a constitutional power within the exclusive domain of the President.

This was a sovereign power and uninfluenced by the judicial verdict as regards the quantum of punishment, he contended.

"The power exercised under Article 72 (power to grant pardons) is absolute and it cannot be fettered by any provision such as Section 433 or 433 (A) of Criminal Procedure Code (dealing with commutation and remission)," he said.

Justice Anand Venkatesh, citing Supreme Court judgments, said the constitutional power of the President under Article 72 is absolute and wide in amplitude and it is not possible to lay down any precise and clearly defined guidelines for it.

If the President, while exercising that power, had taken cue from the Supreme Court verdict in Swamy Shraddananda case, that does not in any way affect his decision, the judge noted.

In its verdict, the apex court had in the Swamy Shraddananda case in 2008, substituted the death sentence given to an appellant by lower courts to life imprisonment with a direction that he shall not be released from prison till the rest of his life.

"This court does not find any arbitrariness or unreasonableness in the decision making process adopted by the President. The President of India was well within his powers to impose conditions while granting pardon," the judgment said.

The rider formed part and parcel of the clemency and the petitioners are barred from questioning it and at the same time take advantage of the commutation of death sentences to life terms, the judge said.