There is increasing doubt regarding the decision to grant Mahendralal Patel, also known as Mahendra Motibhai Patel, a Presidential pardon despite 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 prison sentence. However, he did not complete his sentence as he was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment and did not return.
Efforts to reach Attorney-General Graham Leung, the chair of the Mercy Commission, for clarification on Patel’s conditional pardon have been unsuccessful since Sunday. A follow-up inquiry was made, but no response had been received by the time of publication.
Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) Commissioner Jalesi Nakarawa confirmed that Patel’s name was not included in the FCS list submitted to the Mercy Commission. The release list provided by FCS last Thursday did not feature Patel’s name; however, shortly thereafter, the Fiji Government’s Facebook page announced his inclusion among those pardoned.
Nakarawa stated, “FCS facilitates applications submitted by convicted prisoners. They submit their petitions, and we process them and then 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.” He expressed confusion about how Patel’s petition reached the Mercy Commission, as it typically deals with cases of convicted prisoners under their care.
According to a statement from the Mercy Commission last Thursday, Patel had initially submitted a petition on April 4, 2023, which was dismissed. Later, on June 13, the Commission received a request from Patel’s lawyers for reconsideration of his petition. The Commission evaluated his second petition, taking into account his age, the duration of his absence from Fiji, and his significant contributions to the country. Consequently, the Commission recommended a conditional pardon for Patel, under the condition that he does not reoffend.
The President acted on this recommendation from the Mercy Commission on September 18, 2024, affirming that their decisions were made in compliance with the Constitution.