RAS question
The Pardoning Power of the President under Article 72 includes all EXCEPT:
Correct answer: (D) Amnesty.
Amnesty is not expressly included in the President's pardoning power under Article 72 of the Constitution of India.
Explanation
Article 72 gives the President a defined clemency power. The constitutional text says the President may grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment, and may also suspend, remit or commute the sentence of a convicted person in the specified cases covered by the article. That list supports options such as pardon, reprieve and commutation. Amnesty, however, is a general pardon to a group and is not separately named in Article 72. For this exception-style question, the trap is to treat every mercy-related expression as if it appears in the article. The safer reading is textual: Article 72 mentions individual clemency forms and sentence-related reliefs, but not amnesty as a distinct power.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Reprieve is wrong as the exception because Article 72 expressly includes the power to grant reprieves.
- (B) Commutation is wrong as the exception because Article 72 expressly empowers the President to commute sentences in the covered cases.
- (C) Pardon is wrong as the exception because Article 72 expressly includes the power to grant pardons.
Concept
This tests the President's pardoning power under Article 72 and the exact constitutional vocabulary of clemency. It recurs in RAS because exception questions often turn on whether a term is expressly listed in the Constitution or merely related to the topic.