When any person has been sentenced to punishment for an offence, the appropriate Government may, at any time, without conditions or upon any conditions which the person sentenced accepts, suspend the execution of his sentence or remit the whole or any part of the punishment to which he has been sentenced.
Upon an application made to the appropriate Government for the suspension or remission of a sentence it may require the presiding judge of the court before or by which the conviction was had or confirmed to state his opinion as to whether the application should be granted or refused, together with his reasons for such opinion and also to forward with the statement of such opinion a certified copy or the record of the trial or such record thereof as exists.
If any condition on which a sentence has been suspended or remitted is not fulfilled, the appropriate Government may cancel the suspension or remission and thereupon the person concerned may be arrested by any police officer without a warrant and remanded to undergo the unexpired portion of the sentence. (Section 432)
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ADVERTISEMENTS:
The appropriate Government may, without the consent of the person sentenced, commute anyone of the following sentences for any other mentioned, viz., (a) a sentence of death for any other punishment provided by the Indian Penal Code, 1860; (b) a sentence of imprisonment for life, for imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years or for fine, (c) a sentence of rigorous imprisonment, for a simple imprisonment for any term to which that person might have been sentenced or for fine; (d) a sentence of simple imprisonment for fine. (Section 433)
Restriction on powers of remission or commutation in certain cases:
Under the provisions of Section 533-A, added by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1978, notwithstanding anything contained in Section 432 (power to suspend or remit sentences) where a sentence of imprisonment for life is imposed on conviction of a person for an offence for which death is one of the punishments provided by law, or where a sentence of death imposed on a person has been commuted under Section 433 (power to commute sentence) into one of imprisonment for life, such person shall not be released from prison unless he had served at least fourteen years of imprisonment.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The powers conferred by Sections 432 and 433 upon the State Government may, in the case of sentence of death, also be exercised by the Central Government. (Section 434)