INDIA: PRESIDENT COMMUTES 20 DEATH SENTENCES IN NINE YEARS

October 11, 2019:

President Ram Nath Kovind commuted death sentences to life imprisonment in at least 20 cases over the past nine years, based on the recommendations received from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), The Hindu reported on 4 October 2019.
These commutations were based on the President’s exercise of powers under Article 72 of the Constitution after the convicts filed mercy petitions.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee had commuted the death sentence in at least four cases and rejected mercy petitions in 14 cases including that of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks convict Ajmal Kasab and the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon. President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected one mercy petition in his current tenure.