• Last week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting pardon to his former national security advisor Michael Flynn, who had been charged with making false statements to the FBI over possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential polls.

• Trump’s pardon drew condemnation from Democrats and other critics.

• A retired Army general, Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about interactions he had with Russia’s ambassador to the US in the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.

• He has since sought to withdraw the plea, arguing that prosecutors violated his rights and duped him into a plea agreement. His sentencing has been deferred several times.

• Trump has granted clemency to supporters before, most notably earlier this year when he commuted the criminal sentence of Roger Stone, who was sentenced to prison after being convicted of lying under oath to lawmakers.

• In 2018, Trump said he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself — a claim many constitutional law scholars dispute.

Are there any limits to the US president’s pardon power?

• The pardon power, which comes from the US Constitution, is one of the broadest available to a president. The nation’s founders saw the pardon power as a way to show mercy and serve the public good.

• While pardons are typically given to people who have been prosecuted, pardons can cover conduct that has not yet resulted in legal proceedings. A pardon is not reviewable by other branches of government and the president does not have to give a reason for issuing one.

• A pardon wipes out a criminal conviction. A different form of executive clemency, known as a commutation, leaves the conviction intact but wipes out the punishment. 

• But the pardon power is not absolute. Crucially, a pardon only applies to federal crimes. That means pardons would not, for example, protect Trump associates from the criminal investigation being conducted by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a state prosecutor. Vances probe, which began more than two years ago, stemmed from hush money payments that the president’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid before the 2016 election to two women — an adult-film star and a former Playboy model. Trump has said the probe is politically motivated.

Can the US president pardon his family members?

• It is legal for the US president to pardon his inner circle, including members of his family. In 2001, former President Bill Clinton pardoned his own brother, Roger, who was convicted for cocaine possession in Arkansas. Clinton pardoned about 450 people, including a Democratic Party donor, Marc Rich, who fled the country because of tax evasion charges.

Can the US president pardon himself?

• No president has tried it before, so the courts have not weighed in.

• Many legal experts have said that a self-pardon would be unconstitutional because it violates the basic principle that nobody should be the judge in his or her own case. 

• In a 1974 memorandum, a Justice Department lawyer said President Richard Nixon could not pardon himself but that another option was constitutional: that he temporarily step down, receive a pardon from his vice president and then regain power. In order to do that, Nixon would have had to invoke the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution, which allows an incapacitated president to temporarily step down. Nixon ultimately resigned in the face of the Watergate scandal and almost certain impeachment and removal from office. His successor, Gerald Ford, later pardoned Nixon for any federal crimes he committed or might have committed while in office.

Indian president’s power to pardon

• Article 72 of the Indian Constitution deals with the power of the president to grant pardons, and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases. 

• However, in order to exercise the power to pardon, the president has to  consider the advice of the Union government. 

Article 72 states that:

(1) The President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence— 

(a) in all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial. 

(b) in all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends. 

(c) in all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.

(2) Nothing in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall affect the power conferred by law on any officer of the Armed Forces of the Union to suspend, remit or commute a sentence passed by a Court Martial. 

(3) Nothing in sub-clause (c) of clause (1) shall affect the power to suspend, remit or commute a sentence of death exercisable by the Governor of a state under any law for the time being in force. 

State governor’s power to pardon

• Article 161 deals with the power of the governor to grant pardons and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases.

• However, the governor cannot pardon the death sentence. Also, the governor cannot pardon sentence by a court martial.

Article 161 states that:

The governor of a state shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends. 

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