Top court cautions executive against arbitrary pardons

Recommends assessing convict’s jail time, remorse and health status for presidential pardon eligibility.

The Supreme Court has ruled that granting pardon or commuting jail terms of the convicts is not an absolute arbitrary authority of the executive. Issuing a full text of the decision to annul the granting of a presidential pardon to Yog Raj Dhakal, aka Regal, a murder convict affiliated with the Nepali Congress, the apex court has set different criteria that need to be adhered to before taking such a decision.