<p>“The powers of a court of law in a criminal trial and subsequent appeal right up to this court and that of the president/governor under Article 72/161 operate in totally different arenas and the nature of these two powers are also different from each other,” a Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said.<br /><br />The apex court said that it is a judicial function to pronounce anyone guilty or to decide his or her innocence in a criminal trial and it was “within exclusive domain of a court of competent jurisdiction.”<br /><br />The governor’s power to grant pardon on the other hand was an “independent” exercise of an executive function, it said.<br /><br />The bench made these observations while setting aside an order of governor to grant pardon to three men, awarded life term, in a murder case in Punjab. <br /><br />It noted that the accused persons had filed an appeal against their conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Court before the governor could pronounce them innocent. <br /><br />The governor’s order of remission — passed on an inference that the accused was not involved in the murder and false witnesses had been produced — was bad, the court stated, directing that the matter be remanded back to the governor for reconsideration. <br /></p>
<p>“The powers of a court of law in a criminal trial and subsequent appeal right up to this court and that of the president/governor under Article 72/161 operate in totally different arenas and the nature of these two powers are also different from each other,” a Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said.<br /><br />The apex court said that it is a judicial function to pronounce anyone guilty or to decide his or her innocence in a criminal trial and it was “within exclusive domain of a court of competent jurisdiction.”<br /><br />The governor’s power to grant pardon on the other hand was an “independent” exercise of an executive function, it said.<br /><br />The bench made these observations while setting aside an order of governor to grant pardon to three men, awarded life term, in a murder case in Punjab. <br /><br />It noted that the accused persons had filed an appeal against their conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Court before the governor could pronounce them innocent. <br /><br />The governor’s order of remission — passed on an inference that the accused was not involved in the murder and false witnesses had been produced — was bad, the court stated, directing that the matter be remanded back to the governor for reconsideration. <br /></p>
