There is increasing skepticism surrounding the Presidential pardon granted to Mahendralal Patel, also known as Mahendra Motibhai Patel, despite the fact that he has not 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.
He did not serve his time as the court allowed him to travel abroad for medical treatment; he subsequently did not return. Efforts to reach Attorney-General Graham Leung, who also chairs the Mercy Commission, for clarification on Patel’s conditional pardon have so far gone unanswered since the initial inquiry on Sunday. A follow-up attempt yesterday yielded no response by press time.
Jalesi Nakarawa, Commissioner of the Fiji Corrections Service (FCS), confirmed that Mr. Patel’s name was not included in the list submitted to the Mercy Commission. FCS’s release list from last Thursday did not mention him, yet shortly thereafter, a post on the Fiji Government’s Facebook page revealed that he was among those pardoned.
Nakarawa stated, “FCS facilitates applications submitted by convicted prisoners. They submit their petitions, and we process them for the Mercy Commission.” He added that Patel’s name was absent from their records because he was not in custody, expressing uncertainty regarding how Patel’s petition reached the Mercy Commission.
A statement from the Mercy Commission last Thursday indicated that Mr. Patel had submitted a petition to the Commission on April 4, 2023, which was dismissed. However, on June 13, the Commission received a request for reconsideration from his lawyers. After deliberation, taking into account his age, the duration of his absence from Fiji, and his notable contributions to the country, the Commission recommended a conditional pardon for Patel, which was contingent upon him not reoffending. The President acted on this recommendation on September 18, 2024, affirming that the decisions made were in accordance with the Constitution.