Mercy Plea: Pranab Mukherjee's speedy disposals

President Pranab Mukherjee has cleared all mercy plea files on his table with speed. Mukherjee cleared execution of 13 persons, including Ajmal Kasab and Mohammad Afzal, in his 8-month tenure. He commuted the death sentences of 4 persons too.

Better Record

Compared to his predecessors like Pratibha Patil, APJ Abdul Kalam and KR Narayanan, Mukherjee sent far more persons to the gallows. Narayanan and Kalam sat most on files and made the least decisions on mercy petitions, leading to a huge pendency list.

Best Record

However, R Venkatraman retains the record of sending most persons to the gallows. In his tenure as President between 1987 & 1992, he sent 45 persons to the gallows, including the assassins of Indira Gandhi.