There is increasing doubt regarding the decision to grant Mahendralal Patel, also referred to as Mahendra Motibhai Patel, a Presidential pardon, especially since he has not yet served his sentence.
Mr. Patel was charged with Abuse of Office in 2006 and was convicted in absentia on November 20, 2014, receiving a 12-month prison sentence. However, he never served his time due to being granted permission to leave the country for medical treatment, from which he did not return.
Efforts to reach Attorney-General Graham Leung for clarification on the conditional pardon extended to Mr. Patel have been unsuccessful since Sunday. A follow-up inquiry made yesterday also yielded no response by the time of publication.
Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) Commissioner Jalesi Nakarawa stated that Mr. Patel’s name was not included in the FCS list submitted to the Mercy Commission. The release list from FCS last Thursday did not feature Mr. Patel; however, shortly after, the Fiji Government’s Facebook page announced the names of those pardoned, including Mr. Patel.
Mr. Nakarawa explained, “FCS facilitates applications submitted by convicted prisoners. They submit their petitions, which we process and then send to the Mercy Commission. For Patel, we didn’t know anything about it. His name was not on our list because he was not in our custody. So, I have no idea how his petition reached the Mercy Commission; I only handle cases of convicted prisoners under our care.”
According to a statement from the Mercy Commission, Mr. Patel initially submitted a petition on April 4, 2023, which was dismissed. Subsequently, on June 13, the Commission received a request for reconsideration of his petition from his lawyers. The Commission then reviewed the second petition, taking into account Mr. Patel’s age, the length of time he had been abroad, and his significant contributions to Fiji.
Consequently, the Commission recommended a conditional pardon for Mr. Patel, provided he does not reoffend. The President acted upon these recommendations from the Mercy Commission on September 18, 2024, under Section 119(5) of the Constitution. The Commission confirmed that its decisions adhered to constitutional guidelines.