Governor is the nominal and Ceremonial executive head of the state.

He add power to fulfil his responsibility. One of the power is Pardoning Power which is given in Article 161 of the Constitution.

Article 161:

● 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.

Terms :

1.Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely absolves the convict from all sentences, punishments and disqualifications.

2.Commutation: It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter form. For example, a death sentence may be commuted to rigorous imprisonment, which in turn may be commuted to a simple imprisonment.

3.Remission: It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its character. For example, a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for two years may be remitted to rigorous imprisonment for one year.

4.Respite: It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of a convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender.

5.Reprieve: It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (especially that of death) for a temporary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation.

[Note: Article 72 talks about Pardoning Power of the President]