COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES (S.433)

A commutation of sentences a reduction in sentence. In a commutation of sentence, a person is not absolved from a conviction completely, but, his/her punishment is substituted with a lesser punishment.
For example, a death sentence may be commuted to a sentence of imprisonment for life.

433 empowers the appropriate Government to commute the sentence of the convict.
The said power can be exercised without the consent of the convict.
The power of commutation of sentence is exclusively vested in the Appropriate Government and the High Court cannot direct the Govt. to exercise such power.
Under this section a Governor can commute a sentence of death.

The petitions for reprieve shall be disposed of without any unnecessary delay.
Delays tend to shake confidence of the general public in the working of the executive.
A self-imposed rule is followed by the authorities that such petitions shall be disposed of within a period of three months.

The appropriate government may commute any of the following sentence in the prescribed manner:

433-A places restriction on powers of remission or commutation in certain cases.
It puts a restrain on the unbridled powers of remitting the whole or any part of the punishment provided under section 432.
Therefore, remission shall not be carried out in the below mentioned two categories until and unless the prisoner has under gone 14 years of actual imprisonment.
433-A is not retrospective.
14 years of actual imprisonment is mandatory to grant exercise powers u/s. 432 or u/s. 433.
The period spent on furlough would not be considered for computation under section 433-A

Before enacting S.433-A prisoner who were convicted with offences having death sentence or serious offences used move scots free by earning remission after undergoing some part of the sentence.
Taking cognizance of such utter laxity in the below mentioned two cases, the Parliament considered it prudent to enact S.433-A.

Prisoner sentences to imprisonment for life for an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life; or
Prisoner who was sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life under S.433(a)

The common factor binding together the two categories of ‘lifers’ is the seriousness of offence of which they are convicted.

The section does not violate Article 72 & 161.
It also not violative of Article 14 as it is based on reasonable classification.
The Apex Court has held that S.433-A has been enacted by the Parliament under aegis of Entry 2 of List III of the Seventh Schedule r/w. Article 246.