New Delhi: In a judgment that could immediately impact the mercy plea for Parliament attack case convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, who is facing death sentence, the Supreme Court has ruled that while granting pardon, the President or a Governor must take into consideration the impact of such clemency on the families of the victims.
A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia, while setting aside the order of pardon granted by the Governor of Andhra Pradesh to Gowru Venkata Reddy, convicted in a murder case, said: ''Pardon obtained by fraud or granted by mistake will invite judicial review."
The court also said supremacy of the rule of law must prevail and it required governance in accordance with the law, and the rule of law is the basis of the constitutional structure.
The court also ruled that grant of clemency was not an act of grace, but a matter of performance of the official duty. And if irrelevant consideration or political expediency are taken into consideration, then such an exercise is in derogation of the constitutional authority given under Article 72 or 161.
The court, however, permitted the Governor to reconsider his decision taking into consideration the material placed before him.
It may be noted here that the convict was sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court for murdering the father of the petitioner Epuru Sudhakar. The court, however, reduced the sentence to 10 years.
The then governor Sushil Kumar Shinde, who is currently Union Power Minister, had granted pardon to Reddy, a Congress leader whose wife was also a Congress MLA in the state. The court also ruled that since the President and governors are the sole judges while exercising powers of remission of sentence, they must ensure that by granting pardon, public welfare is also served better.
It may be noted that Mohmmad Afzal Guru whose mercy petition pending before President A P J abdul Kalam may be affected by the judgment as political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir and Human Rights organisations have been trying to create pressure to seek clemency for him.
But the families of the policemen, who were killed in the attack, are strongly opposed to granting of pardon and are scheduled to meet the President on Wednesday.
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