Afzal Guru case: 74 mercy pleas decided in 26 years

With the swish of a pen, the president can decide life and death of a mercy petitioner. Once the president signs the papers, a petitioner’s fate is sealed. The decision cannot be challenged in the court of law.

Between 1981and 1997, presidents decided 74 mercy petitions, roughly over  95% of the cases. In some cases, the presidents took less than a month or less than 50 days, while in other the time taken was between 1 and 5 years.

President Shankar Dayal Sharma took the shortest time — seven days — to reject a petition.

But KR Narayanan broke the pattern. He started the trend which still continues - that of keeping the issue pending. He received eight mercy petitions, but did not take a single decision. His successor APJ Abdul Kalam rejected a petition, left 14 pending and granted clemency in one case.

President Pratibha Patil has four mercy pleas pending. Since becoming the first woman to hold the office, she has granted clemency in just one case.

The details were provided by the Centre in reply to an RTI query by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal.