HC questions legality of presidential clemency without clear guidelines
The High Court has issued a rule, asking why the president's power to pardon convicted criminals without clear rules should not be declared unconstitutional.
The rule also seeks to know why directives should not be given to formulate guidelines regarding the president's power to grant clemency to convicted individuals.
The rule was issued today (3 March) by a High Court bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury, following a hearing on a related writ petition.
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The court has directed the cabinet secretary, law secretary, home secretary, parliament secretary, and secretary of the president's office to respond to the rule within four weeks.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan represented the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Mohsin Kabir Rocky appeared for the state.
Earlier, on 20 January, Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Ishrat Hasan filed the public interest writ petition, challenging the legality of the president's granting clemency to convicted criminals without any policy framework.
The petition called for formulating guidelines for exercising the president's clemency power.
The petition stated that Article 49 of the Constitution grants the president the power to pardon. However, this power is absolute and lacks any specific policy framework. There are no clear guidelines on who receives clemency and on what basis, which contradicts Articles 7, 27, 31, and 32 of the Constitution.
Due to the misuse of this power, several convicted individuals have been pardoned in the past, including former army chief's brother Joseph and Aslam Fakir.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan argued that the president's clemency power has been grossly misused for years.
"In previous governments, convicted murderers were pardoned through the misuse of presidential authority, leading to concerns about access to justice among the general public. This abuse of power has created frustration regarding the judicial system. Therefore, formulating guidelines is essential to prevent further misuse of this power," she said.
