Context: Recently, Supreme Court said that Governor can exercise Pardon Power even if prisoner has not undergone 14 Years Imprisonment.
Background

• The court was considering an appeal filed by the State against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order which directed it to consider fresh policies in respect of exercise of powers conferred under Article 161 of the Constitution.
• Supreme court bench observed and noted this while considering the feasibility of remission policies in Haryana.

Key Obesrvation

• The Supreme Court has observed that the power of Governor under Article 161 of the Constitution to commute sentence or to pardon will override the restrictions imposed under Section 433-A of the Criminal Procedure Code. 
• Even if the prisoner has not undergone 14 years or more of actual imprisonment, the Governor has a power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person, the bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and AS Bopanna observed.

The court held that the power conferred on the Governor, though exercised on the aid and advice of the State, is without any restriction of the actual period of imprisonment undergone by the prisoner. 

• Thus, the power under Article 161 of the Constitution can be exercised by the State Governments, not by the Governor on his own. 
• The advice of the appropriate Government binds the Head of the State. No separate order for each individual case is necessary but any general order made must be clear enough to identify the group of cases and indicate the application of mind to the whole group. 
• Therefore, the policies of the State Government are composite policies encompassing both situations under Article 161 of the Constitution and Sections 432, 433 and 433-A of the Code. 
• The remission under Article 161 of the Constitution will override Section 433-A of the Code, if the State Government decides to be governed of its constitutional power."

The court noted that a prisoner has to undergo a minimum period of imprisonment of 14 years without remission in the case of an offence, the conviction of which carries death sentence, to take benefit of policy of remission framed by an appropriate government under Section 432 of the Code in view of the overriding provision of Section 433-A of the Code. 

• However, the power of the Governor to commute sentence or to pardon is independent of any such restriction or limitation, the bench noted. 

Pardoning Powers of the Governor

• Pardon: When the Governor pardons, both the sentence and the conviction of the convict completely absolve the sentences, punishments and disqualifications.
• Respite: When the Governor uses his pardoning power of ‘Respite’, he chooses to award a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded to the convict. For example, due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of a convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender, the President can use this power
• Reprieve: When the Governor chooses the pardoning power of ‘Reprieve’; he stays the execution of a sentence (especially that of death) for a temporary period. By doing this, he enables the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation from him
• Remit: When the President chooses the pardoning power of Remit, he acts to reduce the period of the sentence but the character of the sentence remains the same. For example, a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for two years may be remitted to rigorous imprisonment for one year but the imprisonment remains rigorous
• Commute: Governor can commute the punishment or sentence of any person convicted of any offence against a state law or he can commute a death sentence

How Pardoning Power of Governor is different than President’s power?

Scope of pardoning power of the President under Article 72 is wider than that of the Governor under Article 161 in two ways:

• Court Martial: President have the power to grant pardon extends to cases where punishment or sentence is by Court Martial. But no such power is available to governor.
• Death sentence: As of now, only President had the power to pardon in all cases including that in death sentence cases. Such power was not available to Governor. However, this provision for Governor has been reversed by Supreme court recently.