RAS question
Under Article 72, the pardoning power of the President includes all of the following EXCEPT:
Correct answer: (C) Power to grant amnesty.
Article 72 does not explicitly include a power of the President to grant amnesty, although it does include pardons, reprieves, respites, remissions, suspension, remission and commutation of sentences.
Explanation
Article 72 is framed as a specific clemency power, not as a general political power to wipe out liability for a class of people. The official Constitution text says the President may grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment, or suspend, remit or commute the sentence of a convicted person. It then identifies the cases in which that power applies: court-martial sentences, offences under laws within the Union executive power, and death sentences. Amnesty, understood as a general pardon to a group, is not one of the powers expressly named in Article 72. That is why, among the options, amnesty is the exception.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) A pardon is expressly listed in Article 72, so it is part of the President's clemency power rather than the exception.
- (B) Commutation of a sentence is expressly covered by Article 72, which allows the President to commute the sentence of a convicted person in the specified cases.
- (D) A reprieve is expressly listed in Article 72 alongside pardons, respites and remissions, so it falls within the President's pardoning power.
Concept
This tests the constitutional law distinction between the President's enumerated clemency powers under Article 72 and a broader idea such as amnesty. It recurs in RAS-style polity questions because executive powers are often tested through precise constitutional wording.