There is increasing concern regarding the Presidential pardon granted to Mahendralal Patel, also known as Mahendra Motibhai Patel, despite him not serving his sentence. Patel was charged with Abuse of Office in 2006 and was convicted in absentia on November 20, 2014, receiving a 12-month imprisonment sentence.
He did not fulfill his term because the court allowed him to travel abroad for medical treatment; he subsequently did not return from his leave. Efforts to reach Attorney-General Graham Leung, who chairs the Mercy Commission, for clarification on the conditional pardon issued to Patel have so far been unsuccessful.
Additionally, the Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) Commissioner, Jalesi Nakarawa, has confirmed that Patel’s name did not appear on the list submitted to the Mercy Commission. The FCS’s release list, published last Thursday afternoon, also excluded him. However, shortly afterward, the government’s Facebook page announced his name among those pardoned.
Nakarawa noted, “FCS facilitates applications from convicted prisoners. We process their petitions and submit them 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.”
The Mercy Commission issued a statement on Thursday indicating that Patel initially submitted his petition on April 4, 2023, but it was dismissed. Yet, following a letter from his lawyers seeking reconsideration on June 13, the Commission reevaluated his petition. They took into account his age, the duration of his absence from Fiji, and his considerable contributions to the nation.
Consequently, the Commission recommended a conditional pardon for Patel, contingent on his not committing further offenses. The President acted on this recommendation under Section 119(5) of the Constitution on September 18, 2024, affirming that the decision was made in line with constitutional guidelines.